


Distraction

by magicallyslytherin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Good Slytherins, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Rivalry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2020-09-06 07:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 54,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20287531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicallyslytherin/pseuds/magicallyslytherin
Summary: There were not many things that would cross Oliver Wood's mind that wasn't Quidditch during his final year at Hogwarts. However, the quiet and mysterious Slytherin girl may be the exception to that.





	1. Chapter 1

Everyone at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry knew that Oliver Wood lived and breathed Quidditch and everything to do with it. Everyone from his Gryffindor teammates to the Portraits and Ghosts of Hogwarts (who always whispered "there's that Quidditch boy away out on his broom at 5am again" as he passed) knew that there was nothing that Oliver Wood took more seriously that Quidditch. Merlin, even the Giant Squid in the Great Lake must have known that not a second went by without him mentioning the Q word. It was fair to say that Oliver Wood's life was well and truly consumed by Quidditch. 

And no one was aware of that more than Melissa Carter, who heard his thick Scottish accent mutter words like "Quaffle", "Hoops" and "Beaters" repeatedly behind her as she tried to focus on the small test that Professor Snape had set to kick off the new term. It was beginning to irk her, so much that, no matter how hard she tried, she could not zone out his mutterings. Melissa placed down her quill and purposefully turned around in her seat to stare down the Gryffindor boy behind her. If he noticed her turn around, he failed to pay attention to her. Melissa watched as he scribbled over his piece of parchment, creating what seemed to Melissa to be some sort of formations for Quidditch. She opened her mouth to tell him to "shut up" but, at the moment, it felt like a snake was coiling itself around her throat, blocking the words from escaping her. So without uttering a word, Melissa turned back around and focussed on finishing her paper.

Fifteen minutes or so later, Wood was still muttering Quidditch terms but Melissa had managed to complete her test nonetheless. She made a point to show her annoyance at the boy behind her by slamming her chair against his desk as she stood. She heard the mutterings stop, but did not turn around to look at him or to apologise. Instead, she strutted to the front of the classroom, passed over her test to Snape without a word and left the classroom.

✧

It was difficult to concentrate in the Slytherin Common Room that night. Melissa often found her quill stopping mid sentence as she tried to write an essay for History of Magic. Unlike a lot of the students at Hogwarts, Melissa found History of Magic rather enjoyable so for her not being able to fully concentrate on her essay was a massive sign that the noise in the dimly lit Common Room made it highly unworkable. 

The noise was due to -from what Melissa could gather - an incident that had occurred earlier that day in Care for Magical Creatures. Draco Malfoy - a third year student - had been injured in an interaction with a Hippogriff. Melissa's head had began to hurt with the insistent complaints and exclamations from Draco's fellow third year student, Pansy Parkinson:

"That stupid oaf! What was he thinking letting that dangerous beast near us all!"

"Poor Draco! He was in a right mess. And right before the Quidditch match against Gryffindor. Imagine if he misses it!"

"I personally can't wait for that oaf to get sacked for this!"

Melissa had had enough of all of the whinging and whining in the Common Room. She snapped shut her book she was working from and barged her way through the bodies congregating in the Common Room before heading off, through the portrait hole and into the tranquill corridors. 

Melissa took the all to familiar route towards Hogwarts Library. A dimly lit room covered wall to wall with bookshelves filled to the brim and freshly polished desks. This made is relatively easy for Melissa to find a subdued area to carry on with her History of Magic essay. However, this peaceful and much longed for silence was quickly interrupted by the sound of mutterings from the other side of the bookshelves. Melissa immediately knew the source of these mutterings and felt her hands tense around her quill as a result. Was there anywhere in this bloody castle where she would be able to concrete and get this essay finished once and for all?

There was no time for the snake to start coiling itself around her neck again as Melissa took no hesitation in pushing her chair out aggressively to stand and charging over towards the other side of the bookshelf.

The sight that Melissa was met with was one similar to what she had encountered when she had turned around in her seat in potions earlier that day. Oliver Wood was sat, muttering the names and positions of his fellow Gryffindor Quidditch teammates whilst circling and creating arrows on a piece of parchment covered with the names of his teammates.

"You might want to be more careful about muttering your tactics, especially when it seems you are oblivious to the presence of unassuming Slytherins, Wood," Melissa said in a waspish tone.

Oliver Wood's head shot up at the sound of her voice and instinctively covered his Quidditch plans and stared at Melissa dangerously. 

"Oh, there is no need for that. I think I have already seen and heard enough to make your surprise tactics not so surprising." 

Oliver sat up in his chair, broadening out his shoulders almost defensively in response to Melissa's words. He was yet to utter a word, but Melissa knew that the moment that he did, her confidence would waver. So she continued to speak. 

"I suggest you start to keep your tactics to yourself from now on, otherwise I may just let it slip to Marcus Flint that you plan to use the Parkoff Play against him." 

And with that, Melissa left Oliver looking dumbstruck and whipped her head around to make her way back towards her desk. She hoped that finally she would have the silence that she much needed to finish this essay for once and for all. And her wish was granted. Her quill flowed graciously across her parchment as she put all her concentration into the essay and words on the page. Finally, she pressed the quill against the paper for the final full stop of the essay. With a satisfied smirk, she rolled up the parchment, placed it into her bag along with her chunky History of Magic book. She felt like a massive weight was lifted off of her shoulders as she went to make her way out of the library, however her surge of happiness was short lived as a voice called out to her. 

"It's Porskoff Ploy by the way. If you are gonna spill our secrets they may as well be the right ones."

Oliver's comment caused a "shhh" to come from Madam Pince and for Melissa to freeze. A sufficient come back did not come to her, so she began to walk away again, her cheeks warming up to a deep red.

✧

Once Melissa arrived back into the Slytherin Common Room, she was welcomed by the sight of her fellow Seventh Year, Marcus Flint, throwing an apple up and down whilst laying on the leather sofa in front of the crackling fireplace. Melissa snorted at the sight. It was almost as if it was straight out of the movies: the villain plotting his next move. Why did they always have to have apples?

She had attempted to creep past the scheming boy when the eerie sound of the movement of water outside and the crackling fireplace was interrupted by Flint's rough growl. 

"Oi, Carter!" he said, sitting up and catching the apple one last time.

The water outside reflected onto his face with a greenish tinge due to the green light emitting from the lowly dangling lamps attached to the ceiling, showcasing the arrogant and eager glint in his eyes. Melissa did not respond and instead simply crossed her arms over her chest.

"You goin' to Hogsmeade this weekend?" Flint asked with a smirk.

"How many times do I have to say no, Flint?" Melissa said before storming off towards her dormitory.

Melissa was well versed in dealing with Marcus Flint, the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team. At first, she did not know what to do with his all too obvious advancements towards her; she would simply just run away from him. This only ever seemed to give him more hunger, however as he persisted on continuously trying to catch her and ask her to spend some time alone with him. It took a few months for Melissa to finally stand up to him and inform him that she was in no way interested in him. Of course, Marcus Flint could never take a hint, even if it hit him in the face. And oh did Melissa want to hit him in the face sometimes. His attitude towards hersand others really did rub her up the wrong way. She even found herself wishing one of the Blungers during a Quidditch match would knock him off his broom. It didn't matter that he played for and captained her house's Quidditch team, nothing gave her much more pleasure than the thought of Marcus Flint getting what he deserved, even if that meant a Blunger to the stomach. 

Melissa chuckled at the thought as she pushed her dormitory room open. Her three roommates were already there, dressed in their pajamas. Melissa's best friend at Hogwarts, Esther, was tying her curly dark red hair back when Melissa walked over to the bed next to hers and slammed her bag onto her bed. 

"Flint is such an arse," she muttered.

"Do you want me to go and sort him out?" Esther said in response.

Melissa dismissed this with a wave of her hand. "Nah, it'll only make it worse." 

Kelsey, the blonde headed girl from across the dormitory watched the interaction between the two best friends closely. 

"Flint ain't too bad, you know. You should at least give it a go."

Melissa scoffed. "He seriously isn't my type." 

Kelsey hummed before returning her attention to peeling back the covers of her bed. Rose, the final girl in the dormitory remained oblivious as she hid her face behind a book, leaving Melissa and Esther to have their own conversation. 

"So why weren't you in the Common Room tonight?" asked Melissa.

"Head Girl duties." 

The one benefit Melissa thought came along with being quiet was that it meant she could lay low throughout her school years. This meant that she was able to get the good grades she needed but did not need to take on some of the responsibility burdens that came along with that, such are Prefect and Head Girl badges. These kind of things didn't interest her. Yes, as a Slytherin she did strive for power, but Melissa believed that power lay with knowledge and she would rather spend hours acquiring knowledge than chasing misbehaving first years down corridors. 

"I bet that was fun." Melissa said as she got her pajamas out of her bedside drawer. 

"Oh yeah, totally." said Esther sarcastically. 

"Right, be quiet you two. It is time to sleep." Kelsey ordered as she went to turn the lights off in the dormitory. 

"You know, I often wonder why you were chosen as Head Girl when Kelsey takes more satisfaction out of control." Melissa whispered to Esther as she passed her to get to the shared bathroom to get ready for bed and finally put to an end the stressful day that had put her to sleep far quicker than any night at Hogwarts so far this year.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fred and George Weasley get an idea. Melissa finds a piece of parchment.

Oliver Wood glanced around, observing the faces of his Quidditch teammates. They all looked miserable. He did drag them out of bed early that morning but this was Quidditch and they had a game against Slytherin within the next week. And nothing meant more to Oliver than beating Slytherin. Also, this was his final year at Hogwarts and Oliver wanted - no needed - to lift the Quidditch Cup this year. He was determined that nothing was going to stop him. He was going to do whatever he could to get the Gryffindor Quidditch team to it's best and most competitive. Even if that meant 4am talks about tactics and practice sessions.

He had just went over the plans he had been working on the past few days and was going over what drills they were going to be working on that rainy morning. He could see Harry Potter dozing off in the corner and had decided that it was probably best to wake them all up by sending them out into the rain to start the drills. 

Fred and George Weasley fell into step on either side of Oliver as they made their way out onto the Quidditch pitch. Rain was bouncing off of the soft ground with great force. Oliver could feel the Weasley twins wince beside him.

"So, why have you got us out in this weather, Wood?" Fred asked.

"We need to be able to cope with any kind of weather. We cannot control what the weather will be like on game day. And I may have let a few of our plans slip so we need to make sure we perfect our plans."

"How did you manage to let any Quidditch plan slip?" asked George in astoundment. 

"Well," Oliver scratched the back of his neck. " A Slytherin overheard me going over the plans to myself and might have seen a bit of my plans and diagrams..."

"What Slytherin?" Fred asked.

"Uh, I don't know... the girl with the dark hair? Friends with Esther Tavendale, the Head Girl?"

Oliver Wood rarely ever paid attention to anyone outwith Quidditch. Especially Slytherins. And he had never really heard from or much about this girl before. 

"Melissa Carter?" George asked.

"Yeah, probably." 

"From what we know, she hates Flint. We heard her and Esther complaining about him one night when we were sneaking around in the corridors to prank Flinch. So I doubt she will give him the satisfaction of giving him a headstart with us." said Fred.

"But still, she is a Slytherin. Only a fool would trust a Slytherin. We need to perfect these plans." 

Oliver Wood picked up his pace and left the twins behind him, not wanting to carry on the conversation. It didn't matter if the Slytherin passed on what she heard and seen anyway, she was obviously oblivious when it came to Quidditch. And nothing Flint and his savage teammates knew or did could stop Oliver from doing all he could to thrash them next week. 

✧

As it turned out, Oliver did not have the opportunity to thrash Slytherin the next week. Oliver stabbed his fork harshly into his steak pie the evening he found out. The peas from his plate went flying onto the copy of the Daily Prophet laying open beside him as Percy Weasley peered over it as he eloquently eat his steak pie. 

"Those Slytherins, I swear to God! There is nothing wrong with that Malfoy's arm..." said Oliver as he kept a firm grip on his fork in the pie.

"It is obvious that they are just scared to face us. Hufflepuff should be an easier game?" Percy said, trying to console Oliver but was in fact doing the exact opposite. 

"No. I have been training and planning these past few weeks to play a physical Slytherin side. Hufflepuff play nothing like Slytherin!" Wood caught sight of the Slytherin arrogantly sauntering into the Great Hall, his fellow Slytherin teammates Graham Montague and Carrius Warrington trailing behind him with smirks on their faces. Flint met the dangerous glare of Oliver and decided to poke the bear further. Oliver saw Flint's smirk deepen as he approached nearer and nearer. 

"Good luck against Hufflepuff, Wood." Flint offered his hand out to Oliver. 

Oliver simply stared at the hand with disgust and opened his mouth to retaliate but was stopped by Warrington elbowing Flint in the side and pointing over in the direction of the entrance to the Great Hall where Oliver could see the dark haired girl walking towards the Slytherin table with her best friend, laughing at something.

"Marcus, look it's Carter!" 

The words caused Flint to retreat his hand and to whip his head around. Oliver was surprised that Flint didn't get whiplash with the speed that he managed to turn his head around with. That seemed to be the distraction Flint needed as he sped off in the direction of Melissa Carter. Oliver couldn't help but to watch the interaction intently as it looked as if Flint was proposing something intimate which caused a look of disgust to flood across Carter's face. Oliver couldn't hold back the snicker as Carter turned her back to him and Tavendale gave him a dangerous glare. Maybe the Weasley twins were right about Carter's distaste towards Flint. 

It seemed that Oliver wasn't the only one who was taking an interest in the exchange as he felt the presence of the Weasley twins beside him, looking on at the exchange with equal interest.

"Seems like Flint is quite taken by this Carter girl..." Fred began.

"I wonder how we can use this to our advantage, Freddie." added George.

"I think I have a plan." said Fred.

Oliver gazed at the twins quizzically, wondering what on Earth it was that they were planning. There was one thing he was sure of, though. Any plan made up by Fred and George Weasley was never good for anyone involved.

✧

Melissa Carter was, for once, happy with the appointment of a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. Professor Lupin's lessons were thoroughly enjoyable and practical. It was after one particularly intriguing lesson that Melissa decided to linger behind a little to ask Professor Lupin more about the topic of the lesson. The conversation escalated into other aspects of magic as Melissa sipped on the cup of tea that Lupin kindly made her. In return, Melissa helped Lupin move the desks for the next class after lunch. 

When moving the final desk to the side with her wand, a piece of parchment was revealed from underneath it's original position. Melissa looked over to Professor Lupin to find that he was not paying attention to her as he drew on the blackboard what seemed to Melissa to be a Hinkypunk. She utilised his lack of attention to walk over and pick the piece of parchment lying on the floor and hide it in her robes. 

"Well, I best get going. Don't want to be late for McGonagall. Thanks again, Professor Lupin." Melissa said, heading toward the door.

"See you, Carter. You are always free to pop in whenever if you have any questions." Lupin turned around to look at her.

"I will. Have a nice day Professor!" Melissa waved.

"You too." 

✧

Melissa took her usual seat in the Transfiguration classroom next to Esther and neatly placed her books onto her desk. She could feel Esther staring at her through her loose curls. Melissa jerked her head to the side to meet the stare of her best friend.

"What's up?" Melissa asked.

"Just wondering what kept you busy during lunch."

"Oh! I was just caught in conversation with Professor Lupin. He is such a good teacher, you are seriously missing out by not taking Defence Against the Dark Arts this year."

"Huh, here I was thinking that you had finally found a boyfriend." said Esther, nudging her friend's shoulder playfully.

Melissa scoffed. "I will not let a boy distract me from my work. Especially not this year." 

"Sure." Esther gave a knowing smirk before Professor McGonagall began the lesson.

When Esther's attention turned to McGonagall, Melissa slowly dropped her hand to her pocket, reached inside and gently took out the piece of parchment. For the first time, Melissa got a proper look at the piece of parchment. Immediately, she recognised what this was. She had seen these kinds of drawings and writings too much recently. She held back a snort of laughter as she sneakily put the piece of parchment back into her robe's pocket. 

Had Oliver Wood always been this careless with his Quidditch plans? Surely she must know more about his potential plans for games than some of his teammates at this point. She had the one of the things she seeked more than anything. Knowledge. Knowledge over her house's greatest rivals. There must be a way for her to get back at Flint with this?

✧

Later that day, Melissa occasionally glanced towards the Gryffindor table during dinner, keeping an eye out for a certain Quidditch player with the piece of parchment still hidden away in her robes. Through the entire meal, she could feel Flint staring at her. Whenever she would look back his way, he would only wink, causing a sickening feeling to form in her stomach and a bitter taste to dominate her mouth. This made her even more determined. So when Oliver Wood stood up to leave the Great Hall, Melissa got up and followed him out, her hands finding themselves in the pockets of her robes.

"Wood!" she called out into the Entrance Hall when she was close enough to him.

Oliver turned around at the sound of the voice and looked at her with a confused expression. Melissa took a deep breath before gripping onto the parchment in her pocket. She took it out and offered it to the confused Gryffindor in front of her. She didn't say a word, but she didn't need to as Oliver's eyes widened in shock and recognition as he realised just what it was. His newly fledged plans for the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff. He rushed to take the piece of parchment from Melissa and inspected it intently.

"You really do need to be more discreet with your Quidditch plans, Wood." 

"You...you haven't shown anyone?" Wood asked, finally looking up from his plans.

"No. I swear I haven't. I found it under one of the desks in Professor Lupin's classroom." 

"Well, thanks I guess?" Oliver offered an awkward smile.

"Don't mention it. Just promise me that you will hit Flint in the stomach with a Blunger when you eventually play Slytherin." Melissa said with a sly but amused smile.

Oliver laughed at this. Actually laughed. It wasn't something that Melissa had seen often. If at all through all their time at Hogwarts. "'Well, technically I can't hit anyone with a Blunger since I'm the Keeper. That's the job of the Beaters."

Melissa rolled her eyes at this. "Well tell your Beaters to do it. You are the Captain after all."

"Trust me, the Weasley twins do not need anymore encouragement for those kind of things," Oliver paused for a moment. "Wait, aren't you Slytherins meant to be loyal?"

"I am loyal but us Slytherins are also determined and I am determined to see Flint's ego deflated one day when he falls off his broom." 

"Fair point. I guess I will see you at the Quidditch tomorrow?" Oliver swiftly put his Quidditch plans in his back pocket.

"Maybe. I guess I will have to see firsthand if your plans play out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear the chapters get longer from here :) Just laying the foundations atm. Hope you are enjoying so far!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gryffindor face Hufflepuff in the first game of the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup.

Oliver Wood, on a normal day, would lick his lips at the sight of the breakfasts at Hogwarts. The bacon, the eggs, the pancakes. He would usually devour as much of it as he could. However, today was not a normal day. Today was the first Quidditch game of the season and Oliver was not as prepared for the game as he would have liked thanks to Slytherin's withdrawal from the first game. His nerves were at an all time high. So much so, he found it difficult to look at the food in front of him and not feel sick.

That didn't stop him from pestering his teammates to eat up though.

"Katie, have another piece of toast."

"Here Harry, I have loaded a plate full of good, energy boosting foods for you."

"That isn't enough, Angelina. Take more beans."

"Do you want a second plate, Alicia?"

"Fred! George! Eat your breakfast and stop messing around"

The last one caused a "sorry mum" to come out from the twins followed by sniggering.

Despite his insistent orders to his teammates about eating, Oliver failed to take up his own advice. He took one, maybe two, bites of sausage and instead took to moving the pieces of food around his plate with his fork. He went over his plans again and again in his head. This time he made sure that he was not muttering them aloud. The last few weeks taught him that you could never be too sure that a Slytherin wasn't lingering around the corner.

Speaking of Slytherins, Oliver was broken out of his trance by the presence of Flint as he sent a smirk Oliver's way before sitting down across from a displeased Melissa Carter.

"Wood! We need to get ready." Angelina shook his shoulders softly.

"Yeah..." Oliver shook his head before standing up and making his way out of the Great Hall.

✧

In contrast, Melissa Carter had a fairly peaceful and stress-free morning. She slept in a little, just enough for her to get a good sleep and not to have overslept. This meant she was in a good mood as she strolled into the Great Hall for breakfast. She had even forgotten that the Quidditch game was today. That was until she spotted the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff Quidditch teams huddled around their house tables in their Quidditch kits and the abundance of people wearing their house colours and carrying flags and banners. She bumped into a Gryffindor girl, wearing a red and gold jumper who gave her a scowl before skipping over to the Gryffindor table. Melissa shook off her encounter with the Gryffindor and walked over to the Slytherin table where Esther was already sitting with her Head Girl badge glinting in the light.

"Have the owls arrived yet?" Melissa asked, taking a piece of toast from the middle of the table.

"No. Expecting anything?" Esther turned to look at her friend.

"Just a letter from home is all." 

Melissa leaned forward over the table and peered inside the large black pot in the middle of the table. She used the ladle to scoop up some of the bubbling porridge inside and poured it into a bowl.

"Who do you think will win today then?" Esther asked as Melissa blew onto the porridge on her spoon.

"I'm far from a Quidditch expert but I know that the Gryffindor team is strong, they will be difficult to beat." Melissa glanced over to where Oliver Wood was talking to his teammates in what looked to be an overbearing fashion. She watched as the twins began to lose interest and started throwing muffins at each other for the other to hit with the ladles, almost like they were preparing for their game of Quidditch later that morning. Their fun didn't seem to last long as Wood shoved a plate of food in their faces and they sat down again.

"Hmm," Esther hummed. "Although Diggory, Hufflepuff's seeker is rather good I've heard."

"The good looking one?" Melissa raised a brow with a smirk.

"Yes, that's the one."

The two girls giggled in between talks about how good looking the Hufflepuff seeker was. However, this fun was short lived as Flint took it upon himself to slide onto the bench on the opposite side to Melissa and Esther so that he was facing them.

"How are you today, ladies?" he asked, flirtatiously raising an eyebrow.

"We were fine until you came along." Esther retorted in a harsh tone.

"Bit harsh, Tavendale. You coming along to Quidditch today?" he directed the question towards Melissa.

"Probably." she shrugged, focussing more on her porridge than on he boy sitting across from her.

It seemed that for once, Flint managed to take a hint and sauntered away to the other end of the table to his friends. Melissa sighed in relief, scraping the remaining porridge from the bottom of her bowl. At that moment there was a loud whoosh and the sound of flapping feathers and persistent hooting as the owls began to sweep over the Great Hall. Bernie, Melissa's barn owl dropped a letter onto the table in front of her and began to peck at Melissa's ear as he sat on her shoulder. Melissa reached forward and broke off a small piece of granola and offered it to her owl. Bernie gratefully took the small piece of granola and accepted a small clap on his back from Melissa before taking off again. 

Melissa broke the seal of the letter she had received before unfolding the letter inside and reading it.

Dear Melissa,  
I always forget how quiet the house gets when you are away at school. I have been missing you very much! I hope you are having a nice time. Has anything exciting happened yet? I hope you are keeping well and paying attention in class.  
Love,  
Dad.

Melissa carefully folded the piece of paper back up and set it aside once she read it over a second time. Letters from her dad back home were always short and sparse. Often the words in his letters made a feeling of guilt resound in Melissa as she thought of him at home all alone. But she knew that deep down he understood that Melissa needed to be here, to learn to control her magic.

Still feeling peckish after reading her letter, she reached for a pancake and drizzled some syrup over it.

"Treating yourself today?" Esther asked. She usually just allowed for Melissa to process her letters from home on her own. 

"Well, if the weather outside is anything like the ceiling," Melissa pointed up towards the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall which was littered in dark grey rain clouds. "I am going to need all of the comfort and energy that I can get."

✧

Melissa was right. She did need all the comfort she could get to combat the harsh weather. But no matter the preparation she took (three layers, a hat, a scarf and a waterproof poncho), she was still shivering and soaked through to the skin as she stood in the stands that stood tall, encircling the Quidditch pitch. She was surrounded by her fellow Slytherins, most of whom still decided to wear their house colors of emerald green and silver. However, there were others who had opted for the colours of Hufflepuff, obviously in an attempt to rile up the Gryffindors who were as loud and as proud as always. Their cheers could be heard, even through the small rumbles of thunder form the dark clouds above and the aggressive rain, hitting off the railings in front of them as the time drew closer and closer to the game starting. 

Melissa stood next to Esther and Kelsey, however there was not much conversation between the two of them as their bodies could do nothing but shiver in the cold and wet weather they had been dealt with. Melissa had made sure that they were as far away as possible from Marcus Flint and his friends, meaning that they were almost squeezed up against the barrier on the opposite side of the stand. Melissa wanted to do nothing more in that moment than turn around to Esther and Kelsey to complain about how this was ever allowed to follow through with the horrific weather. And the weather only got worse as the two teams arrived onto the pitch, even the cheers from the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were beginning to get muffled by the aggressive sounds of rain and thunder. Melissa got a sickening feeling that something bad was going to happen as the whistle sounded to start the game at the same time a bolt of lightning struck. 

As it turned out, the lightning was indeed a bad omen for the game. The weather continued to worsen, making the trip down to the Quidditch pitch totally not worthwhile as Melissa's view of the game was obscured to the point where she could not see a single one of the players. An eerie mist had descended onto the Quidditch pitch with dark shadows seemingly dancing in the sky above. It seemed that everyone was feeling the affects of it as everyone in the stand's enthusiasm for the game seemed to have dampened dramatically. Everyone appeared deflated but Melissa in particular felt a deep surge of sadness sweep over her. Her fingers, already numb with the rain and cold, felt like they were not part of her body anyone. Eventually this feeling spread through her whole body. What burst her body into action however was the sight of a body seemingly falling out of the grey clouds hanging above. It was heading toward the ground at a great speed. Melissa instinctively went to grab Esther's arm in shock and worry. The sadness seemed to have lifted, but now her body and mind were plagued with worry and fear. Who was that? Were they okay? What had happened? Those questions swam around her head as she could see further bodies flying towards the ground in the direction that the body before was hurtling towards. Luckily those bodies were on brooms. 

Over the chattering of people around her wondering what was going on, Melissa heard the commentator announce: "Diggory has caught the snitch. Hufflepuff win."

However, Melissa did not care. She could not tear her eyes away from the direction which she had seen the body falling, waiting to see what had happened. However, she didn't get a chance to sneak a look as her and her fellow students were all guided away by teachers back towards the castle. 

As she made her way up the slippery stone steps back to the castle, Melissa cursed herself for going down to the Quidditch pitch and ruining the good mood she had had that morning. 

✧

Later that day, after she had warmed up by the fireplace with several blankets wrapped around her, Melissa found herself knocking on Professor Lupin's classroom door. Lupin appeared at the door, looking slightly dishevelled.

"Oh hello, Melissa." he said sincerely. 

"Hey, Professor. I was wondering if you had anymore of that chocolate? I have been feeling wheezy and weak ever since I got back from the Quidditch game."

"Of course. Come on in." Lupin gestured for Melissa to follow him into his classroom. 

Melissa watched as the Professor opened one of his drawers and pulled out a bar of chocolate. The silver foil glistened under the light of the classroom as Lupin ripped a bit of the foil and broke off a piece of the chocolate before handing it graciously to Melissa. 

"Thank you." said Melissa as she took the chocolate gratefully. She looked at it for a few seconds before lifting it to her mouth and biting a bit off. "Was it the dem-" Melissa coughed as a bit of chocolate got caught in her throat. "Sorry, was it the dementors?"

"Yes it was." Lupin's tone was saddened as he nodded. 

"I thought that they were not meant to be in school grounds?"

"They are not, but dementors don't care much for rules, especially when they are hungry," Melissa shivered at the thought. She really didn't like the Dementors and today's events had put her at even more unease knowing how dismissive they could be of the boundaries set for them. Lupin seemed to have spotted her worry. "Dumbledore is mad about it. He is not a big fan of them also. I'm sure they will know better than to cross the line next time."

"Do you know if Harry is alright?" Melissa bit off another bit of chocolate.

"I think he is. Madam Pomfrey is seeing to him. I'm sure he will be just fine, he is in the best hands here at Hogwarts."

"True." Melissa nodded, popping the final piece of chocolate into her mouth. 

"We are going to be learning the defensive charm for dementors next week, so even if you do stumble across one, you should be well equipped to at least hold it off for a little while." Lupin said with a smile, trying to give Melissa some solace over her obvious fear of dementors. Melissa wasn't sure if it was the chocolate beginning to kick in or the fact she would know how to combat them soon but her fear over them began to simmer slightly at that moment. She smiled and swept the little pieces of chocolate off her jeans as she made to stand.

"Thanks again, Professor."

"Anytime."

✧

The chocolate had made a sense of warmth drape over Melissa like a blanket. She even began to smile a little, her happiness from that morning just about reappearing. It wasn't until she was cornered by the Weasley twins in the corridors as she made her way to the Great Hall that the smile began to falter. 

"Well hello." Fred or George (she couldn't tell them apart) smirked at her. The other twin held an identical expression. She knew that they were twins, but that seriously freaked her out. She simply stared at them, unable to form words. 

"If it isn't our favourite Slytherin!" said the other one. 

Melissa still remained mute, her expression hardening as she grow impatient. The twins looked at each other for a moment then turned their attentions back to her. 

"So, we can't help but notice that Marcus Flint has a thing for you." 

Melissa laughed but again, did not speak. 

"And we have also noticed that you do not like him."

"So we thought that we should help you out." The twins began to alternate between speaking. This caused Melissa further confusion and continued to freak her out to a larger extent. She just looked between them both, shocked and confused. 

"We think it is time that Flint gets the Weasley twin treatment but we need your help, what do you say?"

Melissa was fully aware of the Weasley twins and their pranking. Thankfully, she had managed to slip under the radar and avoided anything to do with their pranks. Until now. She was hesitant to strike up a deal with these Gryffindors, knowing what they were capable of but the idea of Flint being on the end of one of their pranks did give her some sort of satisfaction.

"Well?" The twins leaned forward, awaiting her answer. 

"Sure."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver takes the loss against Hufflepuff seriously. So seriously that he misses breakfast one day. It just turns out that Melissa oversleeps that same day.

The loss against Hufflepuff only made Oliver more determined than ever to perfect himself and the Gryffindor team. Training hours increased dramatically and Oliver spent all of his free time forging new plans and techniques for the next game. In addition to this, he had also taken to lingering for a few hours after training sessions to practice his flying a little more. It had come to the point where there was no room in Oliver's mind left for anything that wasn't Quidditch. Perhaps that was what made him lose track of time one morning, causing him to go racing up the stone steps back to the castle, taking two steps at a time.

Broomstick still in hand, Oliver halted at the entrance to the Great Hall only to see that the four long tables were emptied of all the breakfasts foods that he was sure would have been there five minutes before. He could hear his stomach grumbling, his hand immediately flying to hold his stomach. He thought to his secret stash of sweets hidden upstairs in his dormitory but then cursed himself as he remembered that he had ate them all a few nights ago in an attempt to keep awake as he formulated a new Quidditch plan.

But then he remembered what the twins had told him a few weeks ago about the kitchens hidden below the Great Hall. If he could...

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of heavy breaths beside him. Oliver glanced to his side to see the black hair that he had been getting way too familiar with for his liking this past month.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Oliver heard her whisper under her breath.

"You miss breakfast too?" he asked.

"Yeah." she said, running a hand through her unruly hair.

Oliver was conflicted in his mind. Was he going to invite her to the kitchens or not? She was a Slytherin and Oliver had to admit that his fondness of Slytherins had not grown at all this past month with them bailing on the game and blaming it on Malfoy's 'injured' arm. However, she did keep her word about not letting his plans slip to her fellow Slytherins and he guessed he did owe her for that, at least.

"Follow me." he said, dragging his broomstick along with him as he walked towards the staircase leading downwards. He turned around after a few steps to find that Melissa hadn't moved and instead stared at him incredulously. Oliver raised an eyebrow at her.

"If you are leading me down to the Hufflepuff Common Room to beat an innocent Hufflepuff with that broomstick to show me what the consequences are for Slytherins who cancel on Quidditch matches I must say I am not a big fan of that, Wood."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Don't be dumb. I'm trying to be nice. Do you want food or not?"

Melissa's stomach replied for her as it let out a loud rumble at a longing for food, so she gave in and shuffled her feet hesitantly towards Oliver who had to hold back a laugh as he realised she was still wearing her pyjamas. Melissa must have noticed his amused look as she narrowed his eyes at him.

"Don't laugh, Wood. Judging by your muddy Quidditch clothes and broomstick, you have been practicing Quidditch all morning. What a waste of a Saturday morning!"

Oliver was deeply offended by this comment. "There is no better way to spend a Saturday morning than with Quidditch!"

Melissa stopped walking at looked at him skeptically. "Do you ever not think about Quidditch?"

"No."

"You really need a distraction from Quidditch, otherwise it will drive you mad. If it hasn't already. Ever thought of taking up knitting or something?"

Melissa started walking again, and Oliver followed her, looking at her as if she was an alien. How could she not understand that Quidditch was his life and that he needed nothing but Quidditch in his life?

"The last thing I need right now is a distraction from Quidditch. Wait, I think we are here."

Oliver stopped walking and observed the painting of fruit on the wall. He thought about what he had to do. If this didn't work, he was going to look like a right fool in front of the already irritating Slytherin.

"Where is here?" he heard her ask behind him.

"The kitchens... I think."

Oliver reached forward and tickled the pear in the picture, he could feel Melissa behind him readying herself to ask questions but she was stopped as, true to what the twins had told Oliver, a doorknob appeared in place of the pear. Oliver hesitantly twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open, revealing a dimly lit room with four long tables, mirroring that of the Great Hall upstairs. Oliver could feel Melissa creeping closer behind him and peering over his shoulder to get a peek inside.

Oliver slipped inside the room with Melissa not far behind. The door had barely shit behind them when they were confronted by a house-elf.

"Oh hello sir and madam!" it said with a short bow. "What can we do for you?

Melissa looked at the elf strangely and edged slightly closer to Oliver. "Uh, do you have anything left over from breakfast?" Oliver asked.

The elf nodded excitedly. "Yes. Of course! Go take a seat and we will bring it to you!"

Oliver took a seat at one of the tables as Melissa slid into one opposite him and began fidgeting with her hands on the table. Oliver took a long sip of his orange juice and watched as an elf came wandering over with a plate stacked with all sorts of foods. Oliver could see Melissa watching the elf carefully and curiously as it walked away.

"What are they?" she whispered across the table once the elf was out of earshot.

Oliver looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"What kind of creatures are they?" Melissa nodded in the direction of where a few of the elves were huddled together working.

"They are house elves." Oliver said.

"House elves?"

Oliver grew even more confused. "Doesn't your family have one?"

Oliver watched as Melissa's cheeks turned a shade of pink. "Uh, I'm muggle born."

"You? Muggle born? But you're a-"

"A Slytherin, I know." Melissa took a pancake from the plate and ripped a bit off before stuffing it in her mouth.

"How is that even possible?" Oliver whispered, but not quiet enough for Melissa not to hear as it was obvious she did when she shot him a dangerous look.

"I don't know. Stop looking at me like I have two heads." It was clear that Melissa was becoming uncomfortable with the conversation as she had wrapped her arms around her waist.

"Right. I'm sorry," Oliver decided to push his astonishment to the side and instead focus on eating some scrambled egg. But he could not hold back his curiosity for too long. "The other Slytherins...do they accept you? Most of them come from quite traditional pureblood families."

Melissa shrugged. "Most of them just presume I'm half blood or something. Esther knows and she is totally fine with it. Not all Slytherins are evil, you know?"

"Yeah but most are and will tear you apart for tarnishing Slytherin's reputation if they find out."

Melissa grew visibly uneasy at Oliver's words, looking down at her lap shamefully. Guilt washed over Oliver as he observed the girl in front of him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that." said Oliver.

"It's fine."

Neither spoke as they ate the remaining food in an awkward silence. For the first time, Oliver felt a sense of sadness for the girl across from him. She had to hide who she was from her fellow house members, the people who were meant to be your family at Hogwarts. And all because deep down she knew that most would not accept her if they did know.

"Hey, Wood?"

"Yes, Carter?"

"Please don't tell anyone about me being muggle born."

"You have my word." he offered her a small smile which she half-heartedly returned.

"So, where am I going to find your game plans for Ravenclaw?" Melissa attempted to lift the mood.

"I am not letting you know anymore of my Quidditch plans." Oliver said seriously.

Melissa pouted. "No? Flint will be so disappointed!"

Oliver's nonchalant expression suddenly turned to panic and fury. "Have you-"

"You wouldn't know humour if it hit you in the face, Wood. Maybe you should make comedy your distraction, it might make you more charismatic. "

"You don't need charisma to play Quidditch."

Melissa raised an eyebrow. "The world doesn't revolve around Quidditch."

"It does to me."

"Oh, I can see that."

By this time, they had reached the door again. They both turned around and said a quick "thank you" to the elves before making their way back out into the corridor.

"Thanks, Wood." Melissa said awkwardly as they neared the top of the staircase into the Entrance Hall.

"Don't mention it. I guess we are even now?" Oliver turned to look at her as she did the same.

She nodded. "Yeah, we are even."

✧

Melissa found the Weasley twins at their usual subdued table in the furthermost corner of the library, hunched over something. This had become a common thing for her these past few weeks. She often met the twins in the library to discuss their plans to prank Marcus Flint. Melissa was hesitant at first, but she had to admit that it was becoming more fun. She flung herself into the seat between them and observed the piece of parchment that the two of them were looking at. 

"So, is this the potion?" she asked, picking parchment up to inspect it more closely finding it to be a page ripped out of a textbook. 

"Yeah." replied Fred (she thought it was Fred anyway, she was slowly beginning to be able to tell them apart).

"We were thinking that the Halloween feast was the best time to strike." said George.

Melissa nodded. "Yeah, okay." 

"So, you won't need to worry about a thing until then. Let us make the potion-"

"Wait, no." Melissa shook her head. "I'll help with the potion. This is a pretty advanced potion."

Fred and George looked offended. "Are you doubting our abilities, Carter?" said Fred.

"Well, you are fifth years and this is a potion geared more towards N.E.W.T students."

"We are perfectly able, thank you very much." George said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"But-" Melissa sounded desperate. "If this potion goes wrong, it can be poisonous! I'd rather make sure that it is non-poisonous before using it on someone."

The twins sighed in sync. Melissa still hadn't gotten used to this. "Fine, we will let you help us."

Melissa gave a triumphant smile. "Then let me know when you have the ingredients."

✧

Melissa met up with Esther, Kelsey and Rose in the Slytherin Common Room later that night and was immediately bombarded with questions from Esther.

"Where have you been all day? Is something wrong? Why do you have a bewitched slug in your hair?" Esther reached forward and pulled the slug out of Melissa's hair. Melissa opened her mouth in shock. Those Weasley twins... she was going to hex them into oblivion the next time she saw them.

"Oh, I just slept in, missed breakfast, walked around the lake for a little while and then spent the rest of the day reading over potions stuff." 

Whilst Kelsey and Rose seemed to believe what Melissa said as they continued their game of wizard's chess, Esther gave her a look which suggested that she knew that Melissa was not telling the whole truth. Melissa mouthed "I'll tell you later" to her best friend.

"I'm just going to go for a quick shower. I need to wash the slug germs out of my hair." Melissa said, getting to her feet again. 

"I'll come up with you, I need to get my copy of this month's Witch Weekly." Esther said, copying Melissa's movements.

The two headed towards their dormitory room and once inside, they closed the door firmly and landed themselves on Esther's bed. 

"So, what is the gossip?" Melissa asked, perching her head on her cupped hands.

Melissa tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before she began to explain the events of the day to Esther, who listened in shock. 

"You have been spending time with Gryffindors all day!?" Esther said loudly in a disapproving tone.

"Keep your voice down," Melissa whispered. "And yes, as I said the twins and I are planning something for Flint. Once that is done, I don't need to associate myself with them anymore."

"And Wood?" Esther raised an eyebrow. 

"Wood was just being nice and repaying a favour." Melissa shrugged.

"What favour?" 

"Oh, I just came across one of his Quidditch plans and gave them back to him and promised not to say anything." 

"That was valuable information, Melissa! If Flint finds out you didn't give that to him-"

"But he won't." Melissa said confidently. 

"We really could have done with those plans, you know." 

"I didn't want to give Flint an advantage over anyone. Even Gryffindors. Imagine how smug he would have been!" Melissa scrunched up her nose at the thought.

"But still. Slytherin is your house." 

"I know. Next time he is stupid enough to let his plans slip, Lucian Bole will be the first to know." Melissa said with a smirk.

"Good. Now go and wash your hair. I don't want my bed sheets smelling of slug."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is Halloween and the time has come for Marcus Flint to experience some horrors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have been a bit dumb...After writing this it came to me that Quidditch is usually after Halloween but for the sake of this story and the plot, we are just gonna pretend that Quidditch starts a lot earlier.

Halloween had always been Melissa's favourite time of the year at Hogwarts. The castle was always decorated in a spooky and creepy fashion. Skeletons hanging off the walls that would yell if you approached too close, pumpkins placed in peculiar places, emitting an orange glow and fake spiders crawling along the ceilings, occasionally jumping down on unsuspecting students.

Melissa's favourite thing about Halloween at Hogwarts however was the feast. Her day was usually centered around her excitement and wonder towards what assortment of goods was awaiting her at the feast. However, this year was different. Anxiety was creeping into her as she sat, hidden underneath one of the large trees beside the Great Lake with the Weasley twins that afternoon, a flask of green potion sitting in front of them.

"How are we going to test this?" asked Melissa,her green and silver scarf flapping in the harsh wind. 

"Do we need to test it?" Fred asked, observing that potion that seemed to be exactly as it was described to be: a blindingly bright green. 

"I'm not slipping it in Flint's pumpkin juice if I am not 100% sure that it isn't poisonous." Melissa snatched the flask out of Fred's hands and inspected it herself. It did seem alright, but she was not willing to risk it. When she looked up, she noticed a large spider crawling up the branch of the tree they were all sitting under. She handed the flask back to Fred and made her way over to the spider. She slowly placed her hand underneath it and allowed it to crawl onto her hand. The spider was about the size of her palm.

"Woah, what are you doing with that?" George asked, backing away from her in fear.

"I haven't got you back for your lovely addition to my hair the other week." Melissa laughed and she watched George scream as she placed the spider onto his head. George went to go hit it off of his head but Melissa stopped him, taking the spider back onto her palm. 

"Don't you dare come for me!" Fred warned, pointing her finger at her firmly.

"Don't worry. I have a better use for it." she gestured for Fred to pass her the flask into her free hand. 

Suddenly Fred's face became serious as he realised what Melissa was planning to do. "That is animal cruelty!"

"Well it is that or we end up in Azkaban for poisoning Flint. Your choice." 

Fred sighed and gave in."Typical Slytherin." he muttered as he hesitantly passed Melissa the flask and watched as she dropped a little onto her palm with the spider on it. The spider looked at it for a second before taking a drink of it. After a few seconds, the spider began to shrink in Melissa's palm to a size hardly bigger than her fingernails.

"I guess it does work then." George peered over and watched the spider speed around Melissa's hand.

"Good. Now you are clear on what you have to do?" Fred asked Melissa who was placing the spider back on the tree.

"Of course." 

✧ 

As Melissa walked into the Great Hall later that evening, she couldn't even appreciate the decorations in the Great Hall as she focused on her plan.

Step 1: Get Flint's attention. Shouldn't be too hard, she thought as she walked along the Slytherin table. She was right as she caught his eye straight away. She lingered on his gaze just long enough to grab his attention and sat down next to Kelsey and Esther not far along the table from him. She subconsciously felt inside her robe pocket for the flask before reaching for some pork and some vegetables to fill her plate. She could feel Esther watching her closely. Melissa gave her a reassuring smile. She knew what she was doing. 

Step 2: Lure him over towards her by returning his gaze ever so often. Again, this was relatively easy. Flint did not need much motivation to come over towards Melissa. However, her glances over towards Flint did not go unnoticed to Kelsey who shot her confusing looks. She didn't have time to answer Kelsey's pending questions as Flint slid in between Melissa and Esther.

"Hey, Carter. I was in a broom cupboard the other day and it made me think of all the things we could do in there." Melissa cringed at Flint's word choice but tried to conceal her disgust with a sickly sweet smile. 

Step 3: Keep him away from his cup before sneaking off and stealing the cup. 

"Wait here, I am just going to the loo." she shot him a smirk and patted his shoulder as she got up out of the seat. Flint did as he was asked, allowing for Melissa to be able to sneakily pick up his cup left at the seat he was in before as she walked by. 

Step 4: Put the Shrinking Solution into the cup. 

Once in a cubicle, Melissa took out the cup and the flask that she had hidden in her robe. Then, with shaking hands, poured the correct amount of potion into the cup. She flushed the remaining potion down the toilet, hid the flask back into her robes and exited the cubicle.

Step 5: Place the cup back on the table, unnoticed. 

Making sure that everyone was either in conversation or too engrossed in their food to notice her, Melissa placed the cup back where she found it and sat back down next to Esther and Flint. Now for the final stage of the plan.

Step 6: Direct Flint back to his table. This would be the most difficult part. He was difficult to shake off at the best of times, but the fact that she had just given him some sort of encouragement, it was going to be an extremely difficult task. 

"So Flint," she began. "I was reading about the Quidditch World Cup Qualifiers the other day and it said that Russia used a Porskoff Ploy against France, quite clever by them wasn't it? Anyway, I wanted to place a bet and since you are the Quidditch captain I thought I could use your expertise. Should I bet on France or Russia to top the group?"

Flint looked baffled by the topic of conversation brought up by Melissa who stared at him, awaiting his answer. "Well, um... I'd say probably France. They have the better team."

"Oh okay. Thanks." Melissa nodded and returned her attention back to her food. Flint lingered for a moment but got the hint that that was the end of the conversation. Disappointment written all over his face, he walked back to his old seat. 

Now all Melissa had to do was wait. 

✧

Oliver attempted to explain his new Quidditch plan to the twins, however they seemed to be distracted. Even more so than usual. 

"Hello, are you two even listening to me?" he waved his hand in front of them but they didn't respond. He turned around to see what is was that had caught their attention. Over at the Slytherin table, he could see Melissa talking to Flint. He whipped his head around and stared at the twins.

"Please tell me you two aren't-" 

"Don't worry, Wood. We won't get detention for this. I don't think..." Fred said with a slight uncertainty. 

But for some reason that wasn't Oliver's first thought. He was worried about Melissa who already has to be a black sheep amongst a house of Purebloods fanatics. The last thing she needed was for Gryffindors to start attacking her. 

"I just think you need to be careful about what you do to Carter." he said, cutting the meat on his plate.

"She won't spill your secrets, Wood. Anyway, she is on our side." said George, who watched excitedly as Flint moved out of his seat next to Melissa and back towards where he was sitting before.

"What do you mean she is on your side?" 

But the twins didn't get to answer as the nudged each other excitedly. Oliver looked around again to see what made them so hyper. Flint was taking a sip out of his cup and Oliver wasn't 100% sure what had happened next as the next thing he saw was the usually tall Flint shrink to the size of a first year. The whole hall had now directed their attention towards him as he stared down at himself incredulously. 

Everyone began to laugh as Flint began to kick off once he realised what had happened. His head did not suit his body in any way as he knocked over his cup and plate and stormed out of the hall. Even Oliver laughed at his antics. But no one was laughing more at the twins. As the obvious culprits, they did themselves no favour by making their pleasure and amusement so clear. McGonagall came charging towards them and dragged them out of the hall. 

That would be a few weeks detention, thought Oliver. No matter how much he enjoyed seeing Flint shrink to about half his size, the fact that the twins had landed themselves detention in the process did not amuse him one bit.

✧

Melissa went to go up after the twins to explain to McGonagall that she was also responsible when she felt a hand grab onto her arm and pull her back down. "You'll lose us house points. Don't." Esther whispered in her ear.

Melissa nodded and continued to eat her food, but the food was not all that appetizing anymore. Melissa thought that this prank would bring her some pleasure and satisfaction, but it only brought her guilt. Guilt towards embarrassing Flint like that and guilt towards letting the twins take full responsibility for it all. She prodded her pork with her fork and listened to the laughter finally dying down all over the hall. When she looked up, her eyes skimmed over the Gryffindor table, the two empty seats reinforcing her guilt. However, Oliver Wood caught her eye and gave her a small smile, which she returned sheepishly. 

"Tavendale, find Flint if you can and take him to Madam Pomfrey." Professor Snape said to Esther as he passed. 

Esther got out of her seat and sent a warning look to Melissa, silently telling her not to do anything stupid. "Of course, Professor."

Once Esther had left, the desserts appeared at the tables in place of the food that was there before. Melissa forced herself to take a piece of chocolate cake and tried to eat away her guilt. Kelsey beside her seemed to feel a little uneasy and refused to touch her drink in fear that hers was spiked with a potion too. She looked over to Melissa and stole a bit of her chocolate cake with her spoon.

"You know, I think that the Weasley twins get away with far too much, don't you?" Kelsey asked.

"Yeah." Melissa said in a nonchalant tone. 

"Poor Flint. He was actually quite pleasant to you today." Kelsey licked the chocolate off her spoon. 

Did Kelsey classify the whole broom cupboard talk as pleasant? Her standards must be pretty low, Melissa thought.

"Really?" Melissa tried not to sound too annoyed at Kelsey's words as she was known to kick off and get offended quite easily. 

"Yeah. I think he really does like you. He does not look at other girls the way he looks at you." 

It seemed that Kelsey was interrogating Melissa, trying to figure out what it was that drew Flint towards her. Melissa wished she knew what the answer to that was too. Maybe then it would be easier trying to put him off.

"Well, they are welcome to it. As you know, I don't like him like that." 

Kelsey slammed her spoon onto the table. "Then why are you leading him on? Why does he keep coming back to you?"

A fury built up inside Melissa that she didn't know that she had.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask him yourself if you are so obsessed with him?"

Not being able to be around her any longer, Melissa stood up and increased her pace as she walked out of the Great Hall, still shaking slightly with anger. What was Kelsey's problem with her all of a sudden. Whilst her and Kelsey had never really been close friends, they had at least been civil with one another. Melissa was sure of one thing though, whatever it was would not be resolved overnight.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Weasley Twins decide that Melissa has a price to pay for dodging detention for their prank.

The tension between Melissa and Kelsey hadn't worn off from the night before. Both sat at opposite ends of the Slytherin table as they ate their breakfast. Rose had been vaguely aware of the tension as she had to deal with the two of them staring at each other that night in the dormitory. Esther (who had been dealing with the whole Flint situation most of the night) was completely oblivious to the whole ordeal. She looked on in confusion at Melissa continuing to walk as Kelsey and Rose sat down at the table.

"Is she okay?" Esther asked Kelsey who scoffed.

"She is just being her over dramatic and attention-seeking self."

Esther narrowed her eyes at her roomates before heading off towards Melissa who sat alone, nibbling on some toast.

"What's up?" asked Esther as she slid in next to Melissa.

"Kelsey thinks that I am leading Flint on and is annoyed at me because of it." Melissa said, casually pouring herself some orange juice.

Esther sighed. "You know she likes him. She is just getting jealous."

"I know but it isn't like it is all my fault. I didn't ask for Marcus Flint to like me. It would be like one of the Weasley twins liking her."

"Who do we like?" George suddenly asked, sitting down on the other side of Melissa.

"No one. Why are you two here?" Melissa looked at them skeptically as Fred sat down next to George and gave her a smirk.

"We just wanted to congratulate you on the excellent job yesterday." Fred widened his grin at him.

"Shh," Melissa hushed them. "Someone might hear." she looked around her subconsciously.

"Don't worry, we won't tell on you." George reassured her.

She opened her mouth to speak again but was cut off by the presence of Marcus Flint. "I think you have caused Slytherins enough harm these days." he said strolling over towards the twins.

Melissa looked over her shoulder to Esther who looked just as concerned.

The twins simply sniggered. "Nice to see you have regained your height. You look better when you are taller." said Fred.

"Oh, you are going to pay for this!" Flint gritted his teeth at the twins.

"Flint, leave them alone. They aren't worth it." Melissa attempted to strike some sort of peace, whilst sending a pleading glance to the twins, begging for them to leave before the situation escalated further.

"It's alright, Carter. We'll be on our way." said George and patted Melissa on the shoulder as he and George made their way back to the Gryffindor table.

"What did they want?" Flint asked once they had left. He reached for a piece of toast and some bacon and eggs. Melissa sighed in frustration at the fact it looked like Flint had no intention of moving away. However, Flint took this to be annoyance directed at the twins.

"They are annoying little Weasels, aren't they?" Flint said as he glanced over in the direction of the twins who were currently annoying their Quidditch teammates. Angelina Johnston was getting especially annoyed at the way that they kept flicking the food across the table and landing in her hair.

"Yeah." said Melissa disinterestedly, taking a sip of her orange juice.

Suddenly the food sitting in front of her, wasn't very attractive and Melissa felt herself playing around with the food on her plate instead.

"Come on, Melissa. Time for History of Magic." Esther tugged her arm and walked with her out of the Great Hall.

"Just lay low today, okay?" Esther straightened out Melissa's robes and smiled encouragingly at her. She then left her on her own to walk down the corridors that were now bare, all the Halloween decorations had been removed overnight. However, even without the presence of the Halloween decorations, Hogwarts remained spooky and eerie, especially when you have to walk some corridors alone. Melissa jumped as Peeves burst out of the wall in front of her in the corridor leading towards the History of Magic classroom. 

"If you see the Bloody Baron, I was never here." Peeves shouted as he went through Melissa and disappeared through another wall. Melissa shivered as she felt her body go cold. It was never pleasant having a ghost pass through you.

Speaking of Ghosts, Professor Binns was already floating around the classroom, looking as miserable and as ancient as ever, when Melissa walked in. She placed her books onto her desk and got her quill and parchment out, ready for the lesson. 

"Miss Connell." Binns greeted her. Melissa gave a weak smile and didn't bother to correct him. He got everyone's names wrong. 

Soon enough, the rest of the class filtered in and Binn's began reading out his notes for the lesson in his usual monotonous voice. Most of the students in the class drifted off to sleep but Melissa kept up with Binn's words, making her notes as detailed and as clear as usual. Although she couldn't help but notice that those students who were not asleep or doodling were looking at her with strange looks. Did she have something on her face? She put her hand up to her face to feel around but felt nothing out of the ordinary. She shrugged it off and continued to focus on the lesson.

But the weird looks continued, even after History of Magic. The entirety of Transfiguration everyone kept turning around in their seats to glance at her and through the corridors on her way to Potions people passing by would stop and stare. Melissa had enough. She took a quick detour to the girl's bathroom and was let out a gasp at the sight of her hair. She took the hair band out of the hair and let it fall around her face to get a better look at it. It had turned from it's usual dark brown colour to a bright red with gold highlights. She ran her hands through it in disbelief. She immediately knew who to blame. 

She stormed towards the dungeons for her potions lesson, her new hair trailing behind her looking like her head was on fire. She now ignored the curious looks of passerbyers and growled with fury. She was so caught up in her plans to hex the Weasley twins into oblivion that she didn't see where she was going and crashed into another body.

"Hey, watch where you-" she stopped as she recognised who it was. "Wood?"

"Nice hair, Carter." he smirked at her. 

She scowled at him. "Don't even start. I'm afraid you are going to be two Beaters short once I get ahold of them."

"Good luck finding them. They are in detention after classes. I'm just as mad at them as you are, they are missing Quidditch practice." 

"I think avengence for my hair is a little more important than your Quidditch practice." Melissa bunched ahold of her hair and tugged at it in frustration. 

"That statement is so ridiculous, it isn't even worth responding to."

"You just did." Melissa smirked over her shoulder before opening the Potions classroom door. 

Snape looked not best pleased at the their late arrival into class. He stopped whatever he was explaining and stared at them both in a scrutinising and disapproving manner.

"Carter, Wood, you are late. 10 points from Gryffindor. Take a seat." 

Melissa could feel Wood readying himself to protest and decided to interject before he could dig himself into an even bigger hole.

"Sorry, sir. It was my fault." 

There she was again. Helping out those goddamn Gryffindors. She really needed to sort herself out.

"Make sure it doesn't happen again, Carter. Now, sit. " Snape said with finality. 

Melissa glanced around the classroom to find that her usual seat next to Kelsey was occupied with Kelsey's bag and books, obviously signalling that Melissa was not welcome there. She scanned the room for another free seat only to find one next to Flint who was sending a smirk her way. She ignored it and took the seat next to Wood at the back of the class. He obviously couldn't find a seat either.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, surprise laced through his voice.

"Well I either sit here or next to Flint. You can go over there if you don't want to sit next to me." Melissa shot back before getting the ingredients needed for the potion written up on the board at the front of the classroom.

When she returned, Oliver hadn't moved and avoided her gaze, focussing on his own potion. They worked in silence for the most part, which surprised Melissa as she didn't think she had seen Oliver Wood go this long without mentioning or doing anything to do with Quidditch. It didn't long, however. 

"Why does it smell of broomsticks?" Oliver asking, sniffing his potion.

Melissa laughed and leaned over to point to his open textbook. "It says here. Love potions smell of what appeals to you. It turns out you are attracted to broomsticks."

Oliver looked at her strangely after she regained her posture and stirred her own potion. Melissa ignored the look and the subsequent glances between her and his potion. 

"What does yours...er smell like?" Oliver asked awkwardly.

Melissa took a moment to smell her own potion. "Parchment, pumpkin spice and... grass."

"Huh.. mine smells like grass too."

Melissa sniggered. "Of course. This just proves that Quidditch is your one true love, Oliver Wood."

Oliver didn't get a chance to respond as Snape approached their table and was observing Melissa's potion closely, his long, hooked nose almost touching the liquid. After a few seconds, Snape smirked and lifted his head from the cauldron. 

"Well done, Carter. 10 points to Slytherin," he was about to walk away when it finally looked like he finally realised her change of hairstyle. "What happened to your hair, Carter?" 

"Oh, I tried to use a charm to curl my hair and it backfired. Silly me." Melissa tried her best to smile through the irritation she still had towards the twins. Snape didn't seem to believe her but nodded and turned his attention to Oliver and his potion. Snape simply stared at it for a few seconds, said nothing and walked away again. Oliver grunted.

"Where is my points? My potion looks exactly the same as yours." 

"It is Snape. What did you expect? You should be grateful that you didn't lose any." said Melissa as she tried to tidy up her messy workspace.

"Easy for you to say. You are a Slytherin. You will never truly understand how unfair Snape can be." 

"Well, that is your own fault for being inferior and placed in Gryffindor, isn't it?" Melissa teased with a grin, turning away to put her ingredients back in the cupboard.

Oliver followed her. "That is the problem with you Slytherins, you always think you are above everyone else because you are-" he stopped, realisation dawning upon his face. Melissa didn't need for him to finish his sentence to know what he was about to say. She turned around and looked at him, almost threatening for him to finish the sentence. "Sorry. I know you aren't like that."

She shook off his apology and slammed the ingredients cupboard shut. 

✧

Oliver chased the red haired girl down the corridor after Potions ended. Once he reached her, he unexpectedly placed his hands on her shoulder to make her turn around and face him.

"Look,I'm really sorry about what I said." he rushed out an apology as their fellow students walked by. 

It was when she looked at him with a hard stare that Oliver noticed how the fiery red hair suited her fierce personality that she kept hidden under her quiet and reserved shell. 

"It's fine. I know you didn't mean it." 

Oliver backed away from her and ran his fingers through his hair. "You in Transfiguration next?" he asked.

"Uh...yeah." 

And so Oliver walked alongside her as they headed towards Professor McGonagall's classroom. Neither spoke again, some sort of silent peace treaty was formed as they walked. Oliver only separated from her side once they reached the classroom when he took his seat next to Percy and she took hers next to Esther. But no matter how hard he tried to concentrate that lesson, Oliver's mind kept going back to how he had not only smelt her perfume when she leaned over to point at his textbook but when he smelled his potion.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something exciting for Seventh Years is announced. It sparks many interesting conversations.

There was a commotion in the Slytherin Common Room one Monday morning as a sleepy Melissa entered, rubbing her eyes to try and clear her sleepy vision. Melissa looked to Esther, Rose and Kelsey who shared her look of confusion. 

It had been over a month since Melissa and Kelsey clashed and it seemed like their tensions had simmered slightly over time. However, due to the fact that they were yet to talk it out, they still occasionally acted caged and and awkward around each other. 

Once the excited crowd had calmed down a bit, Melissa and her three roommates pushed their way towards the noticeboard and suddenly the commotion made sense. There was to be a formal Christmas Party for the Seventh years due to leave Hogwarts at the end of the school year. The information that made Melissa's heart drop however was the fact that it was suggested to bring a date. Whenever there had been events like this before at Hogwarts that required a date, Melissa had been the only one out of her friends without a date. 

Esther, on the other hand, seemed ecstatic at the idea. She turned to Melissa and shook her shoulders. "We have to go dress shopping at Hogsmeade this weekend."

Kelsey and Rose also seemed excited at the idea and began to talk about dresses, hairstyles and of course the boys they would like to go with. Those seemed to be to be the most popular topics of conversation throughout the day. In classes, all the girls were talking and fantasizing about the party instead of concentrating on the class. All expect Potions, of course. Snape had given the whole class a warning the moment they all sit down.

"If I think any one of you are talking to each other about the Christmas Party during this lesson, I will not hesitate to take points from your house."

"Unless you are a Slytherin." Oliver added, just quiet enough for only Melissa to hear.

Even though Kelsey had removed her belongings from Melissa's old seat, Melissa decided to stay at the back with Oliver, whose presence she had to admit she preferred to Kelsey's these days. And Oliver must have not minded hers either as he stayed too, even when he was there earlier enough to steal another seat, he didn't. 

This, of course, didn't go unnoticed by their classmates who did not understand why a Gryffindor and a Slytherin would ever sit next to each other. But Melissa and Oliver remained oblivious to this as they often retorted back and forth about the smallest things:

_( "I got them leeches, Carter!"_

_"Well I got to that stage first so I can use them." )_

_( "Wood! You've just split castor oil all over my textbook!"_

_"You're a witch. Just use magic." )_

_( "What do you mean the world doesn't revolve around Quidditch?"_

_"You need help. Seriously. This isn't healthy." )_

And today was no different. Oliver was secretly trying to read 'Quidditch Through the Ages' under the desk whilst Snape spook when Melissa decided to give his leg a soft kick under the table, sending the book flying out of his hands. Melissa had to cover her mouth to conceal her laughter and leaned her head against the desk to prevent Snape from seeing her deep red face from trying to stop the laugh from escaping. 

"Wood, be quiet over there. 10 points from Gryffindor." 

Melissa could just know that Oliver was about to protest so gave his leg another kick to stop him from doing so as her head remained on the table, her shoulders shaking with laughter.

"Do you need to go to the hospital wing, Carter?" Snape asked.

"No, sir. I'm good." Melissa finally composed herself and sat up straight again and focused on the lesson again.

It wasn't until they were preparing their ingredients for their potion when Oliver confronted her for the commotion she had caused before. 

"You're not funny." Oliver muttered as he watched Melissa sniggering whilst cutting her caterpillars. 

"Sorry. Just didn't want you to get in trouble for reading in class." Melissa said, sending him a sly smile.

"So you got me in trouble for you kicking me?" 

Melissa shrugged in response. Oliver decided to get his own back by stealing her leeches and plopping them in his cauldron. 

"Did you just-" Melissa said in disbelief, peeking inside his cauldron. 

"Now you know how it feels." Oliver smirked at her.

Melissa scoffed and walked away to get some more leeches from the ingredients cupboard. On her way there she, must to her distaste, ran into Flint who was also getting a few ingredients. 

"Hey Melissa." he gave her a smug smile.

"Flint." Melissa said in a disinterested tone. 

"There is a free seat next to me, you know. You don't need to suffer next to Wood." Flint said hopefully.

"I can suffer through it, thanks," Melissa gave Flint a fake smile and returned to her desk. "Good news, Wood. Flint says I don't need to suffer sitting next to you anymore. There is a free seat next to him!"

"That sounds like a better arrangement for the both of us." Oliver joked, causing Melissa to hit him on the arm lightly. 

"You'd miss me." 

"No, because then I would get to read my book without getting in trouble."

"Where is the fun in that?"

✧

Melissa sat next Esther that evening at dinner with Kelsey and Rose sitting opposite. The topic of conversation was, of course, the Christmas Party. 

"My worst fear is someone coming in the same dress as me." Kelsey commented as she sliced a potato to let it cool.

"Mine is the charm on my hair fading before the night is over." Esther said.

"Ask Fred and George for advice. I still have a little red in my hair." said Melissa, pointing to her hair which was tied back in its usual ponytail.

"You still need to get them back for that." Esther pointed out.

"I will. Eventually."

Kelsey looked on disapprovingly before changing the topic of conversation. "So, who do you all want to ask you?" 

"I mean, I have someone in mind..." Esther admitted with a small blush colouring her cheeks.

"Ohh, who?" Kelsey leaned forward, her interest peaked. 

"Um, Jacob Richtree." the colour of Esther's cheeks intensified as she spoke his name.

"The Ravenclaw?" asked Kelsey, a smile playing at her lips. Esther nodded and Kelsey squaled. Rose and Melissa stayed quiet but gave Esther broad smiles.

"What about you, Rose?" Esther asked, directing the conversation away from her.

"I'm not too sure right now." Rose said in her usual quiet voice.

"I'm sure someone will snatch you up. You are one of the prettiest girls in the year." Kelsey gave her shoulder an encouraging squeeze. 

"Kelsey is right. And if the guys in our year are dumb enough to leave you without a date, I will go with you." Melissa smiled at her quiet friend who smiled back appreciatively. 

"What are you talking about? You are bound to get a date!" Esther shoved Melissa playfully.

"I'm not too sure. I've never had a date to anything!" Melissa protested. 

"Well, Flint will definitely ask you." Esther said knowingly. Melissa scoffed.

But Melissa had been thinking about that. Would Flint ask her? What would she say if he did? She couldn't lie, when she went along to things before with friends when she didn't have a date she felt incredibly embarrassed. But was that embarrassment painful enough for her to say yes to Flint? She felt a bit sick at the thought.

"I'm not too sure if Flint is the kind of guy to ask a girl to a party as formal as this." Melissa decided on saying. 

On the topic of Marcus Flint, Kelsey had become incredibly tense again. Melissa decided it was best to steer the conversation away from the Slytherin Quidditch Captain. 

"What about you Kelsey? Anyone you have your eye on?"

"Oh," Kelsey went red as she spoke. "No, not really." 

It was obvious that she was lying but no one pressed her on it. Instead, everyone talked about what kind of dress they planned on getting.

"I think I might get a silver one." said Esther. 

"Oh yes! Silver will definitely suit your red curls!" Kelsey complimented, her high spirits returned. "I am thinking about maybe a green one. A bit of Slytherin pride." 

"Me too," said the quiet voice of Rose. "Or maybe something grey."

Their conversation about dress colours, however, was soon interrupted by a sandy blonde haired Ravenclaw clearing his throat. Immediately recognising who he was, the four girls giggled. 

"Esther, can I speak with you for a moment?" Jacob Richtree asked, nervously fidgeting with his robes. 

Melissa, Kelsey and Rose all looked to Esther with excited anticipation as their friend tried to keep her voice calm as she spoke. "Of course."

Esther got up and followed Jacob to a more secluded part of the Great Hall. The three friends watched intently as the two appeared to smile and talk for each other for a while before Esther nodded eagerly and Jacob kissed her hand before walking back over to the Ravenclaw table to be greeted with claps on the back and encouraging shoulder shakes. It was nothing compared to what Esther received as she returned to her friends. Kelsey jumped out of her seat and sprung onto Esther, giving her a tight hug. 

"I'm so happy for you!!" her exclamations were muffled by Esther's hair, but it was still loud enough for the whole of the Slytherin table to hear. 

Melissa also gave her best friend a hug when she was finally released from Kelsey's hold and sat down again. 

"He is going to die when he sees you all dolled up for the party." she whispered in her ear before letting her go.

Rose gave Esther a kind and encouraging smile and passed her some of her extra potatoes. Esther gratefully accepted these. Meanwhile, Kelsey poured all for of them a glass of pumpkin juice, passed them around and held hers up in the air.

"To the future Mrs Richtree." she beamed. 

Melissa and Rose smiled and joined Kelsey in raising their glasses in the air. Esther rolled her eyes at how extra Kelsey could be, but raised her glass anyway. All four girls clinked their glasses in the middle, downed the pumpkin and giggled and talked for the rest of the night about how cute Esther and Jacob's future children were gonna be. 

  
✧

Meanwhile, at the Gryffindor table, Oliver Wood was too invested in his copy of 'Quidditch Through the Ages' to entertain the conversations that were happening amongst his fellow Gryffindors. 

"Hello, Oliver?" Percy Weasley nudged him, causing him to finally look up from his book.

"Huh? Oh sorry I was reading." Oliver placed his book down on the table and turned to Percy. 

"I was just asking if you had any ideas of how I could asked Penelope to the Christmas Party?" Percy asked.

Was Percy seriously asking_ him_? What gave him the impression that Oliver was in any way any sort of romantic?

"Um, I don't know. Maybe just get her some flowers or something?" Oliver shrugged, going to pick up his book again but was stopped by Percy continuing the conversation.

"I thought the same. But I can't decide on what kind of flowers. What do you think?"

"Don't know, whichever are her favourite colour." 

Oliver just wished that Percy would shut up and leave him to read his book.

"Good point." Percy nodded and Oliver finally though that Percy was going to shut up when Percy decided to speak again. "Who are you asking?" 

"Haven't thought about it." 

It was true. Oliver glanced at the notice board in the Gryffindor Common Room that morning and hadn't given it a second thought since. In all honesty, he was thinking about getting some extra flying practice in. It would be easy enough to sneak to the Quidditch pitch with all the teachers presumably at the party and he always liked to feel like he was gaining an advantage against his rivals. 

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, the twins and Angelina Johnston appeared, sitting across from Oliver and Percy. 

"You should ask Carter." suggested Fred with a wink.

"Carter? The girl you sit next to in potions?" Percy asked, surprise covering his face.

"Yeah, her." Oliver replied, staring down the twins who wore amused grins.

"Melissa Carter? She is quite pretty." Angelina thought aloud. 

Oliver thought about it. He had definitely observed that she was quite pretty but not much past that. And he wasn't quite sure if she would say yes to him anyway. But then he thought about her wearing a pretty dress and a smile and felt his cheeks heat up. 

"Aww, he does have a crush on her!" George cooed. 

Oliver threw one of his peas across the table at the twins. "Shut up. I don't."

"Don't worry about it, Wood. I'm sure you'll find someone to go with." Angelina tried to console him but the twins kept poking fun at him. 

"You might have to fight Flint for her. Imagine!" Fred turned to George and pretended to fight one another. "I want to dance with her!"

"No, _I _want to dance with her more!" George imitated Oliver's Scottish accent. 

Oliver had to restrain himself from reaching over the table and strangling the pair of them. 

"You both know that she will reject Flint." Oliver said in an annoyed tone.

"Or will she?" Fred challenged with a raised brow.

"Maybe he has grown on her." George joined in. 

Oliver scoffed. "As if." 

But for some feeling, the twins teasing set a seed of doubt in his mind. Maybe she would say yes to Flint? Maybe he has a way of finally winning over. Oliver wasn't sure why he left a sharp pain in his chest at that thought.

"He is getting jealous!" Fred said, nudging George's arm excitedly.

Oliver tightened his jaw and stared at the twins dangerously. Angelina could obviously sense that Oliver was getting close to jumping across the table and attacking them as she interjected.

"Stop upsetting him. Let him sort out how he feels on his own." she said softly.

Oliver appreciated this as she led the twins away to sit with their younger brother and Harry Potter to annoy them instead. However, Oliver still had Percy to contend with.

"Maybe we should go flower shopping together? Do you know Melissa's favourite colour?"

Oliver wanted to hit his head off the table several times. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver thinks that asking a girl to a party is similar to catching a Snitch in Quidditch.

There was a certain buzz around the Seventh Years on this particular Hogsmeade weekend. Especially amongst the girls who were all beyond excited to pick their outfits for the party. Melissa wasn't as excited as some of her peers (especially Kelsey who had cut out pictures from Witch Weekly of dresses that had caught her eye) but she had to admit that as the days drew nearer to the party, she couldn't help but to feel excited about spending a night with her friends and people she had spent the last six years with and would be saying goodbye to. 

Melissa was awake a little earlier than usual due to a weird dream she had where a Hippogriff was about to bite her head off so she decided to write a quick letter to her dad to let him know what was going on at Hogwarts. She told him all about the up and coming Christmas Party and promised that she would send him a picture of her in her dress for the collection of pictures that he liked to keep of her. She also dutilly informed him that her studies were going well. 

Melissa made sure to wrap up warm with her Slytherin House scarf and hat before heading out into the heavy snow. The snow made it quite difficult to walk, and Melissa become quite nervous about slipping and falling. Especially as she made her way up the stairs at the owelry. However, much to her relief, she managed to reach Bernie in one piece. She attached the letter to the owl's leg and petted it for a few seconds. 

"Take this to father and try not to pester him too much about giving you something to eat." Melissa said to the owl. 

The owl hooted in response and took off out of the owlery. Melissa watched for a moment as the bird flapped its wings against the landscape of the rolling hills covered in snow and the acres of white trees. A part of her ached as she thought of how much she was going to miss this beautiful and magical place in a years time.

✧

Oliver's fingers ached as he carried his broomstick up the hill from the Quidditch ground. His whole body was suffering with the cold, making his trek up back to the castle longer and more difficult than ever. He hoped that the weather was going to calm down a little later when Percy was planning on dragging him to Hogsmeade to look at flowers. The last thing Oliver wanted to think about in this weather was flowers. Would Melissa even like the flowers? He cursed himself as he thought of that. He wasn't even sure yet if if he_ was_ gonna ask her. He thought about it as he flew that morning. Going with Melissa wouldn't be the worst thing. She certainly did amuse him sometimes with her sayings and her teasing behaviour. She wasn't as 'out-there' as some other girls but he liked that: she was more reserved and instead chose the right time to speak. But the idea of just messing around on the Quidditch pitch the night of the party did still appeal to him. As did the idea of taking a night to take his mind off Quidditch. What was it Melissa said about him needing? A distraction? She was turning out to be exactly that. Her and that stupid party.

Oliver suddenly stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of the girl he had just been thinking of. She too was making her way back inside Hogwarts and had also caught sight of him. She smiled and waved.

"Hey, Wood. Please don't tell me you were actually out flying in this weather?" she said as she approached him, her arms wrapped around her for extra warmth.

"You have to be able to play in all kinds of weather." Oliver said as if it was obvious.

"You're mad." Melissa shook her head at him with an amused smile.

Oliver decided to ignore her comment. "So, what are you doing out and about at this time?" he asked instead.

"Oh, just been up at the owlery. Sending a letter home." Melissa shrugged and readjusted the hat on her head. Oliver noticed that instead of being in its usual ponytail, her hair was in bunches under her hat. That paired with her reddened cheeks with the cold, made her look well... very cute. Oliver looked away from her, embarrassed. This was not what he needed right now. 

Melissa must have noticed his sudden change of behaviour. "Are you alright?" she asked.

He just had to do it, Oliver thought. Now was the best time. There was no one around but the two of them, no one to laugh at him if he gets outwardly rejected and no flowers in his hand to make him look like a complete idiot. It was just like a game of Quidditch, he told himself. Like catching a snitch to end a game, he just had to ask her and that would be it all over. If he wins, he wins. If he loses... well he would just have to go and try to drown himself in the shower again.

"Um, do you want to go to the Christmas Party with me?" 

Oliver had no idea how he managed to utter those words what with the nerves swimming around in his stomach but he was glad that he finally did. But the relief was short lived as he looked at a visibly flustered Melissa standing in front of him. He had evidently taken her a back by his question and he started to ready himself for her impending rejection as her cheeks became an even darker shade of red than before. 

It felt like an eternity for Oliver until she responded. 

"Um... yeah...sure, Oliver." 

✧

Melissa discarded of her scarf and her hat before falling onto her bed. A small smile etched onto her face. It felt like a massive weight being lifted off her shoulders. She had a date to the party. And he wasn't some sort of troll either. He was Oliver Wood and he was perfectly fine. 

To be truthful, Melissa hadn't considered Oliver prior to him asking her but she was glad he did. She did enjoy his company. When you got past his seriousness and his overbearing Quidditch obsession, Melissa supposed he wasn't too bad. And she couldn't deny that he wasn't bad looking either. 

Suddenly, her excitement towards the party intensified. A bubbling feeling formed in her stomach and she let out a small giggle. Merlin, what was happening to her?

✧

Hogsmeade had a different kind of aura to it with the snow settling down on many of the shops and buildings. Melissa admired the beauty of it as Kelsey pulled her along with her and her two other friends. Kelsey had been non-stop since she had woken up, a constant burst of energy, babbling on and on about her perfect dress and how she wasn't going to go back to the castle without it, no matter how sore her feet got or how cold she felt. She was pretty determined, Melissa had to give her that.

"Oh, this shop looks perfect." Kesley shouted a bit too loudly for Melissa's ears and dragged her friends into a clothes shop.

Kelsey immediately shot off towards the most extravagant dresses, Rose following close behind her. Melissa and Esther instead decided on some of the more casual dresses. They took some time to pick up a few dresses and hold it up against their bodies in the mirror. Melissa was holding a navy dressed she picked out up against her. She had to admit that it was by far her most favourite so far. 

"Ohh you should totally try that on. It is totally your colour!" Kelsey said to Melissa whilst passing by.

Melissa thought that maybe Kelsey was right. She walked into one of the changing cubicles and shut the curtain. She slipped out of her normal clothes and into the navy dress. It fit her like a glove. She gave a quick twirl before staring at her reflection in the mirror. She liked the way that the colour looked against her pale skin and the way it fit her. For once, Melissa felt comfortable and confident in what she was wearing.

She was sure that this was the one.

✧

After all the girls had got their dresses and found shoes to match, they somehow still had time to head into the Three Broomsticks for something to eat and drink. The girls ordered a butter bear each and some pumpkin pasties to share. They all discussed their dresses as they sipped their drinks and nibbled onto their food. 

"Hey, ladies." said Marcus Flint, interrupting their good spirited conversation about how Kelsey's dress basically screamed Slytherin pride. 

"Hey." all the girls muttered back. 

"Can I speak to Melissa please?" he stared directly at Melissa. 

"Yeah, sure. What do you want?" Melissa asked nonchalantly. 

"Um, I kind of hoped to speak alone?" for once, Flint seemed a bit nervous as he spoke. However, Melissa was stubborn and didn't let this soften her.

"Whatever you can say to me, you can say in front of the girls." 

Kelsey looked at her as if she had gone mad. Rose looked confused and Esther looked amused. Flint, meanwhile, looked completely thrown off track. 

"Okay then... will you go to the party with me?" Flint asked, taken a sudden interest in the wooden table, staring at it intensely.

Melissa cleared her throat before responding. "Sorry Flint, but I am already going with someone." 

These words had differing reactions around the table. Esther smirked, but there was a hint of surprise on her face. Rose's eyes were almost bulging out of their sockets. Kelsey look enraged, staring at Flint, watching his reaction closely. And well... Flint looked a mixture of angry and shocked and maybe a hint of hurt?

"Oh... I didn't know you already had someone. Who?" Flint finally managed to speak after a prolonged silence as he tried to process the information he had just received. 

Melissa's cheeks suddenly reddened for the second time that day. "None of your business." 

"Fine." Flint snapped and stormed away from her table and out the Three Broomsticks. 

"What was that?!" Kelsey shouted out once Flint left.

"Do you really have a date?" Esther asked in a far calmer tone.

"Why is it so hard to believe someone asked me? And yes, I do." Melissa crossed her arms across her chest and leaned back in her seat.

"I didn't mean it like that, just... why didn't you say?" Esther looked almost hurt that her best friend didn't tell her.

"He only asked me this morning." Melissa shrugged, turning her attention to the butter bear in front of her.

"So who is the lucky guy, then?" Kelsey asked with a sweetly fake smile plastered across her face. But there was a look underneath her smile that suggested that she thought that Melissa only said that to Flint to make him jealous. And it obviously did. 

"It's a secret." Melissa smirked, but sent a quick glance to Esther to let her know that this wasn't going to be a secret to her. 

"How mysterious!" Kelsey kept up her fake sickly sweet facade. "That leaves just me without a date..."

"Oh, have you got someone, Rose?" Melissa smiled at Rose, who still looked shocked at the exchange with Flint.

"Um, yeah. Vincent Moss." Rose gave a sheepish grin as she spoke.

"Lucky you." Melissa winked at her quiet friend.

Vincent Moss was regarded as one of the best looking guys in their year and most girls pined after him. He did seem quite nice to Melissa. Melissa was glad that both Rose and Esther had managed to get a nice date. And herself too, she supposed. 

Now, she just wished that someone would ask Kelsey soon enough just to stop her sulking and fake smiles to her friends. 

✧

Why did Oliver even agree to this? Wherever he looked, there was flowers and he had been staring at them all for the past half an hour. He was bored. He had his hands in his pockets and was absentmindedly softly kicking a flower pot to try and amuse himself whilst Percy held two kinds of flowers in his hands, trying to decide what ones to go with. 

"Which ones?" he turned to Oliver, who was not in any way interested.

"The ones on the right." Oliver said with little regard to the ones he had chosen. 

"Yeah, I think so too." Percy agreed, placing the ones in his left hand back where he got them. When he looked back at Oliver, Percy finally realised that he did not look interested in any of the many flowers around them. "Are you not getting any?"

"Don't need to." Oliver said, trying to hold back the smugness in his voice.

"You asked her?" Percy asked in shock, almost dropping the sacred flowers in his hand.

"Uh, yeah." Oliver awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

"And?" Percy pressed, eager to know how he got on.

"She said yes." Oliver went back to kicking the flower pot.

"Well done, mate. She is actually quite smart and I suppose she could be rather pretty... but she isn't anything on Penelope."

"Aren't you getting those?" Oliver gestured towards the flowers still in Percy's hands. 

"Oh yeah..." Percy abandoned Oliver and went over to the cash register to pay. 

Oliver found himself slightly irked by Percy's comments. He had got used to Percy's constant wittering on about Penelope, he could usually zone it out, but something about the way he compared her to Melissa didn't sit very well with Oliver. 

Percy had soon bought his flowers and Oliver was finally outside again and free of the sight of flowers. He breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards the twins who were just making their way out of Zonko's joke shop. 

"If you two are planning something else stupid, I will have to kick you off the team."Oliver said seriously at the two of them.

"Oh, don't worry. We are behaving ourselves, Captain." Fred said as George saluted as Fred said Captain.

"If I was Oliver, I would have kicked you two off years ago." Percy appeared behind Oliver, and Oliver felt like rolling his eyes at the older Weasley. He was in such a self-righteous mood today.

"Got your flowers, Perce?" George teased, causing Percy to let out an indignant snort.

"I'm sure Penelope will love them." added Fred with a smirk. 

Their exchange was interrupted when Marcus Flint came storming out of the Three Broomsticks, causing a scene. 

"Do you think that is him asked Carter to the party then?" Fred sniggered.

Percy looked at Oliver in concern. "Do you think she told him about you?"

The twins interest suddenly peaked, whipping their heads around in sync to Oliver. 

"What about Oliver?" George asked.

Before Oliver could reply, Percy did for him. "He asked Carter." 

Fred and George exchanged a look before George spoke again. "And what did she say?"

"Yes." Oliver replied before Percy could this time. 

"Time to pay up, Freddie." George said with a smug smirk. He lay his hand out and gestured for Fred to put some money in his hand. Fred sighed and pulled out some change from his pocket and placed it in his twins hand. The twins noticed Oliver's and Percy's confused look.

"Fred didn't think you would actually do it. But I had faith in you." George winked and pocketed the money he just acquired.

Those twins were unbelievable. 

✧

Melissa was hidden away in one of the corners of the Common Room with Esther. They played a casual game of Exploding Snap and Melissa could tell that Esther was biting back from asking Melissa questions about her date to the party. Melissa noticed this and laughed at her best friend. 

"You can ask who it is, you know."

"Just tell me, then." Esther looked almost desperate. 

Melissa smiled and reached for some parchment and an enchanted quill that only wrote words that lasted for a short period of time. She cupped her hand around where she was writing as she wrote the name 'Oliver Wood', folded it and passed it to her best friend.

Melissa watched as Esther unfolded the piece of paper and read over the anem a few times, her mouth hanging open in shock. As the name faded off the page, Esther placed the parchment back onto the table in front of them and smiled at Melissa.

"He asked you?" Esther whispered. Melissa nodded and bit her lip in reply.

"Where did that come from?" asked Esther in disbelief.

"Well, um we sit next to each other in Potions now and I guess we have been getting closer these past few weeks. I didn't really think about it until now." Melissa said truthfully. 

"Aww so cute! So you like him?" 

Melissa looked at Esther incredulously. "We are going as friends... I think."

"You think?" Melissa raised an eyebrow.

"Well, he didn't say anything else. He just asked me, I said yes and then we walked back into the castle without saying another word about it."

"Well, friend or not, he is going to_ love _that dress on you."


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas Party Part I

The night of the Christmas Party came around quickly. In the Seventh Year girls dormitory Esther was fussing over Melissa's makeup whilst Rose and Kelsey put charms onto their hair. Melissa groaned as Esther plucked on of her eyebrows.

"Sorry." Esther cringed.

"You two best hurry up and get your dresses on. Rose and I are going in a few minutes." Kelsey said, walking over to the mirror and putting on some red lipstick.

Esther and Melissa shared a brief look before getting up and taking their dresses off where they hung them on their four poster beds. The two girls slipped the dresses on underneath the dressing robes they wore. Melissa began to struggle with the zip. Cursing the dress, Melissa turned to Esther.

"Can you finish zipping this up for me?" Melissa moved her curls out of the way and gestured for Esther to zip it up. Esther did as Melissa asked her and smiled at her as she backed away.

"You look gorgeous." Esther said with a genuine smile.

"Says you." Melissa returned the smile.

"Oh, you both look so beautiful." Kesley gushed, walking towards them, two small boxes in her hands.

Melissa observed Kelsey's extravagant emerald green dress that clung to all the right places of her body. Paired with the bright red lipstick and the perfectly styled curls in her hair, the look was a little extreme, but Kesley did look absolutely stunning.

"You look stunning, Kels. Pucey will have a hard time keeping his eyes off you." said Esther.

Kelsey had not been asked and it was causing her to get desperate in the days leading up to the party so she resorted to asking the Slytherin chaser in the year below. Those in the year below were allowed to attend the party if they were asked to by someone else. In a way, Melissa felt bad for Adrian Pucey, who was one of the people on the Slytherin Quidditch team that she could tolerate. She knew that Kelsey asked him out of fear that she would be the only one without a date and that Adrian seemed to have a little bit of a crush on Kelsey. Melissa hoped that Pucey wouldn't get his hopes up.

Kelsey accepted Esther's compliment gracefully with a nod. "Well, I have a gift for the both of you." she enthusiastically pushed to the two boxes towards Melissa and Esther.

"You shouldn't have." said Melissa as she gently took the box from Kelsey's hold.

Melissa opened the box and gasped and what was inside. A small silver necklace with a small green gem crescent. Esther seemed to have the same reaction as Melissa heard her gasp beside her.

"I wanted to give us all something that would remind us of our friendship whilst we were here." Kelsey explained with a smile.

"It's beautiful. Thank you, Kelsey." Melissa said sincerely as she lifted the delicate necklace out of the small box it was in to look at it more closely.

"You're welcome." said Kelsey before turning around and going back towards Rose who was adding more clips into her hair.

"I wonder what Wood will think of you wearing a little green." Esther teased quietly so that they other two girls wouldn't hear.

Melissa felt a warmth rush to her cheeks. "I would not be surprised if he turned up in his Gryffindor Quidditch kit." she remarked, leaning down to look in the mirror as she put her necklace on.

"That wouldn't be too bad. He does look quite attractive in his Quidditch kit."

"Esther!" Melissa scolded her friend but her flushed appearance gave her away.

Esther gave her friend's arm a quick squeeze. "I'm sure he will be wearing his best dress robes to impress you."

Melissa wasn't too convinced. Ever since he asked her to the party, the interactions between them both had been a little bit awkward; there hadn't been the same flow of conversation between the two of them, or the constant teasing. Melissa had begun to worry that he regretted asking her.

"Come on, you two. It is time!" Kelsey clapped excitedly and looped her arm around Rose's.  
  


✧  
  


Marcus Flint strolled around the Slytherin Common Room impatiently, his hands in his robes pockets. Vincent Moss and Adrian Pucey were the only boys left in the Common Room with him and they looked equally impatient. What took girls so long?

But, at that moment, the girls appeared from their dormitory. There was no sound in the Common Room apart from the lapping of waves against the Common Room window and the clinking of the girls shoes as the boys watched them in silence. Marcus smirked as he looked over Melissa who lingered behind Kelsey and Rose.

Marcus watched as Rose and Kelsey walked over to their dates. He noticed Kelsey's gaze linger on his for a moment but ignored it. His attention was on Melissa who was now chatting to Esther, who were both still lingering in the corner. Melissa noticed him staring and glared at him. He took his opportunity and walked over to her.

"So where is this date, huh?" he teased. Melissa did not look impressed.

"He is waiting for me in the Entrance Hall." said Melissa in response, but Marcus detected a trace of uncertainty in his voice.

"So not a Slytherin, eh? I hope for your sake that he isn't a Hufflepuff." Flint gave a short laugh.

"He isn't. And it shouldn't matter to _you_ whether he is or not."

It seemed that Marcus tested her limits a bit too much, as she looped her arm around her best friend's and stormed towards where the two couples were standing.

"You coming, Flint?" Vincent asked, gesturing towards the portrait hole.

"Yeah."

Marcus followed behind Melissa and Esther as they made their way up into the Entrance hall. He couldn't help himself but to let his gaze fall to Melissa's bare legs and how good she looked from the back in that dress. Marcus commended her taste in dresses.

Once they were in the Entrance Hall, Marcus kept a close eye on Melissa, waiting to see who, if anyone, she was going to go off to. Esther left her side to join Jacob Richtree, and Marcus contemplated walking up to her as she continued to walk without approaching any guy. But it seemed she finally found who she was looking for as she gave a wave and walked in another direction. She finally stopped in front of the last guy in this school he had expected her to. Oliver Wood? She was going with _Oliver Wood? _Marcus could not believe it. Wood was his biggest rival. Was he doing this to rile him up?

Marcus watched as Melissa laughed at something Wood said and noticed how nervous and flustered Wood seemed to be. Did he _like _her? There was no way. But Marcus had never seen him this way with anyone. And even Melissa seemed a certain kind of giddy that Marcus hadn't seen before- especially not when he spoke to her. When did this happen? He knew they sat next to each other in Potions but they were never like this. Or had he just not noticed it?

When Wood caught him staring, Marcus turned around and stormed in the other direction. Wood was going to pay for this next Quidditch match against Slytherin.  


✧  


Oliver stood with Percy and Penelope as he nervously waited for Melissa to turn up. The couple next to him were beginning to annoy Oliver slightly with their pet names and contrast fussing over each other.

"So who are you going with?" Penelope asked Oliver once she got some space to breathe from Percy.

"Melissa Carter." Oliver replied, trying to keep his tone as casual as he could.

"Oh," Penelope said in surprise. "Well that is her over there, isn't it?" Penelope pointed behind Oliver.

Oliver turned around and his eyes immediately darted towards the girl he had been waiting for. She noticed him looking straight away and gave him a smile and wave before making her way over.

"Hey." she greeted him.

"Hi. You took your time." Oliver said, teasingly in the hope that it would ease the tension and awkwardness between them.

Melissa rolled her eyes at him. "I got caught up with the girls and you decided to stand at the furthest place from the way to and from the Slytherin Common Room."

"Can you blame me? I've got to stay as far as way from those snakes as possible."

Melissa laughed. "I think you are forgetting who it is you are talking to."

"You are obviously the exception."

Oliver felt himself become flustered after he spoke the words. Did he just flirt with her? He wanted the floor to swallow him up. He glanced anywhere around the room that wasn't her and that was when he noticed a very frustrated Marcus Flint staring at them. Oliver couldn't help but to see the flash of hurt in his eyes, but in a blink of an eye, Flint was gone again. He must actually really like her, Oliver thought. He looked back to Melissa who looked at him questionably. He just gave her a smile and looked towards Penelope and Percy who had been observing the two of them closely.

"You know Percy and Penelope?" Oliver asked Melissa.

"Yeah, Penelope and I worked together on a project for Charms last year." Melissa smiled fondly at the blonde girl.

"We made a good team." Penelope smiled back with equal fondness.

At that moment, Esther Tavendale and her date, Jacob Richtree appeared. Oliver saw Esther smile and wink at Melissa as Jacob greeted Penelope poiletly.

"Are you ready for the speech, Percy?" Esther asked Percy, who was suddenly trying to make himself look more important.

It was the Head Boy and Girl's duty to say a speech at the party. All about moving onto the next chapter in their life or something. Oliver lost interest when Percy kept harping on about it.

"Yes. I guess we should make our way into the Great Hall?" Percy said, straightening his dress robes.

"Sure. I will see you in a bit, Melissa." Esther looked towards Oliver. "Wood." she added with a smirk.

Esther, Percy and their partners made their way towards the Great Hall, leaving Oliver and Melissa on their own as they waited for the signal for them to start filtering into the Great Hall. An awkward silence descended upon them both as Melissa glaced down towards her shoes. Meanwhile, Oliver took the time to fully observe her for the first time that night. He had never seen her with her hair down except from when Fred and George turned her hair red and gold, of course. Oliver thought that the way she wore her hair suited her, but not as much as the dress. He thought that the dress was perfect for her. The navy blue accentuated the blue of her eyes, which was typically icey and reserved. But not tonight. There was a kind of nervousness about her that Oliver hadn't seen in her before.

Oliver cleared his throat before speaking. "You look nice, by the way."

Melissa looked up from her shoes and gave him a shy smile. "Thanks, Oliver. You too."

Oliver didn't let the fact that she called him 'Oliver' instead of 'Wood' pass him by easily. It was only the second time she had done it and Oliver had to admit that it made his insides flutter. It just seemed more friendly and let him know that she was being sincere with him and not teasing him about something.

"Thanks, Melissa." he looked down at the simple black dress robes that he wore.

McGonagall appeared before they could continue their awkward conversation, herding all the students into the hall, ordering the them she went. "Walk in and stand until the Head Girl and Boy do their speech."

"Oh hello, Wood," McGonagall said to him as she passed. It took her a moment to register Melissa beside him. "And Carter." she said in surprise but still managed a smile.

"Hey, Professor." Oliver replied with a sheepish smile before McGonagall walked away again.

"Everyone seems surprised that a Gryffindor and Slytherin can actually get along." Melissa said, looking to Oliver with a smile as they began to walk.

"We get along?" Oliver joked, causing Melissa to lightly barge him with her shoulder.

"Hey! To think that you were just starting to grow on me." Melissa rolled her eyes sarcastically.

They had finally reached inside the Great Hall that was already filled with their fellow Seventh Years and the teaching staff. The four tables that usually dominated the floor had been removed and instead round tables were dotted around the sides of the hall, leaving the room in the middle of the hall for what looked to be a dancefloor. The ceiling was bewitched to look like a clear sky with bright, twinkling stars and balloons were floating above them, together creating 'Hogwarts Class of 1993/94'. Oliver watched Melissa as she stared up above her, observing the decorations in wonder. He had to stop her from walking by gently grabbing her wrist before she crashed into the people standing still in front of them.

And for some reason, he did not let go of her wrist even as Dumbledore, Esther and Percy said their speeches. There was some kind of force within him preventing him from doing so. Melissa didn't seem that bothered about it, however. She just stared up in front of her at her best friend proudly, oblivious to Oliver's hand wrapped around her wrist. Oliver only removed it when he clapped at the end of the speeches.

The students began to break off in their couples to take a seat at the tables. Oliver led Melissa to the side and towards an empty table. Melissa sat down first and Oliver took the seat next to her. He could see her Slytherin friends looking at her from where they already sat at a table across the hall. Oliver was secretly glad that he didn't have to share a table with them. Melissa was the only Slytherin he could tolerate being stuck at a table with. Esther didn't seem too bad either.

Melissa seemed not to notice her friends and their stares as she played with the ring on her finger. "I hope there is something nice to eat. I'm hungry." she said.

"I hope it isn't too much. I need to stick to my strict Quidditch diet."

"Strict Quidditch diet?' Melissa looked up from her fingers. Oliver could tell she was concealing a laugh.

"Yes. Diet is a massive part of helping you achieve maximum performance."

Oliver was saved from Melissa's inevitable smart comment about his 'obsession' with Quidditch when Percy, Penelope, Esther and Jacob returned and decided to sit at the same table with them.

"Hey, Esther. You did well with your speech." Melissa complimented as Esther sat on the other side of her.

"Thanks, Mel. Oh finally, food!"

Food magically appeared on the table in front of them. It seemed like most people were hungry as the plate of food in front of them seemed to decreased quite significantly. Oliver picked out a modest amount of food from the plate and began to eat as Percy boasted about the speech he had just given.

"I think that it is important to state the importance of events like this, don't you?" Percy asked the table of people who just hummed in response to him, way too occupied with their food to give any other kind of response. Even Penelope, who usually entertained his conversations, was too busy eating to give an adequate response.

"Hey, do you have any extra chicken wings?" asked a Hufflepuff boy.

Melissa nodded and leaned out the way towards Oliver, allowing the boy to reach forward and get the extra chicken wings. Oliver flushed as he managed to get a whiff of her usual perfume, his mind going back to the potion he made a few weeks ago.

"Thanks." the boy said, heading off with the chicken wings.

When Melissa tried to regain her posture, she stumbled and feel back a bit. Oliver caught her arm to stop her falling onto him.

"Sorry." she said, this time managing to sit up again without stumbling over.

"It's fine."

Oliver could see that Esther was watching the exchange with a smirk on her face.

"You know, when Melissa told me that Oliver Wood had asked her to the Party, I was so shocked and confused. But now I can see it. You two are quite cute together." Esther said.

"Yes I thought the same when Oliver told me but I have not admit, they make a good match." Percy added.

"We are here, you know." Melissa said, her embarrassment written across her face. Oliver felt like he was probably as red in the face as her. He took a few gulps of his drink to try and cool him down a bit.

Luckily for them both, pudding appeared and managed to distract everyone at the table. Oliver considered the tempting treats in front of him as he watched Melissa take some lemon drizzle cake. He slowly took a small piece of chocolate cake, but this did not go unnoticed by Melissa who turned to him with a knowing smile.

"Is that in this strict Quidditch diet?" she asked.

"No. But I am allowed a cheat day every now and then."

Melissa hummed disbelievingly and used her spoon to steal a bit of his chocolate cake. She quickly put it in her mouth to stop him snatching it back.

"That was for stealing my leeches." Melissa said once she had swallowed the cake.

"I only stole yours because you stole mine." Oliver protested before stealing a bit of her cake. "And now we are even again."

Melissa huffed in defeat and continued to eat her cake without bothering Oliver again.   
  


✧  
  


Once everyone had eaten their dessert, music starting to play and most of the teachers (not including Snape of course) went onto the dancefloor. A few students followed their example, including Percy and Penelope. Oliver sniggered as he watched Percy awkwardly try to dance.

Jacob had asked Esther up to dance, leaving Melissa and Oliver alone again.

"So, will you come to the next Quidditch game?" Oliver asked so that they didn't have to deal with the awkward silence again.

"Considering how badly the last one went, probably not." Melissa said, shivering at the memory.

"Yeah, it was a bad game. But the weather should be better when we play Ravenclaw. Who will you be supporting?"

"Ravenclaw." Melissa said as if it was obvious. Oliver looked offended at her answer. "What? You would be supporting Ravenclaw too if they were playing Slytherin!"

"True. But you don't play on the team. You have a friend on the Gryffindor team. I _do not _have a friend on the Slytherin team."

"Doesn't make a difference and deep down you know it."

"Have you ever tried out for the Quidditch team?" Oliver asked out of interest. Much to Oliver's confusion, Melissa laughed.

"No way. I cannot fly for a start; I much prefer my feet being on the ground. And secondly, I just don't see what the fuss is all about."

"What the fuss is all about? It is the best sport in the world." Oliver argued, his fists tightening at the prospect of defending Quidditch.

"I prefer football." Melissa shrugged.

"Football? What is that?" Oliver asked, confused.

"It's a er... Muggle sport." Melissa became slightly embarrassed as she spoke.

"Oh. How do you play it?" Olive became genuinely interested.

"You really want to know?" said Melissa. Oliver nodded eagerly. He needed to know about this sport that was seemingly better than Quidditch.

Melissa picked up an unused napkin and pulled her wand out of her shoe. She muttered an incarnation and then began to draw the outlines of a football pitch with her wand onto the napkin. "So, this is what a football pitch looks like," she gestured to the little pitch she drew. "It is a game played between two teams of eleven. Each team has 10 outfield players and a keeper."

"Like me!" Oliver interjected excitedly.

"Yeah like you. Except they guard one net, not three hoops. The nets are at either side of the pitch. Here and here," she pointed to where she meant on the napkin. "The aim of the game is to score more goals than your opposition by passing a ball around and getting past the goalkeeper and into the net, kinda like what Chasers do in Quidditch I suppose. But you are only allowed to use your feet. Or your head. But definitely not your hands. Unless you are the keeper. They are allowed to use their hands to catch the ball. Following so far?"

Oliver nodded. "So do the outfield players have positions like in Quidditch? Is there any Beaters?"

Melissa laughed at this. "No, there are no Beaters. But yes, they do have positions but it isn't much like Quidditch in that it is variable how many players of certain positions you can have in your team and they can change position whenever," Melissa picked up her wand again. "So for instance, there are different formations. One of my favourites at the moment is one used by Johan Cruyff. He is the manager of Barcelona Football Club, probably one of the best clubs in football at the moment. He typically plays with three defenders, four midfielders and three forward players. Defenders help the keeper defend the goal, midfielders help transition defence into attack and attackers score the goals. But any player on the pitch can score a goal and any can defend it, it is just that players are either better at attacking or defending." Melissa drew onto the napkin little dots to represent each player and circled the defense, the midfield and the attack and labeled it as such.

"Even the keeper can score?" Oliver asked.

"Yes, even the keeper. But that is very rare. Although Cruyff is a big believer that the best form of defense is attack. But that will probably just confuse you right now."

"So how does the game finish if there isn't a Snitch? Is it when a certain amount of goals are scored?"

"No. You could be there for days! Matches last 90 minutes and that is that. If a team wins they get 3 points, if they draw 1 point and if they lose they get 0. Whoever has the most points at the end of a season, wins their league. Simple."

"Huh... so no flying?"

Melissa smiled. "Thankfully not. But all of the different tactics and formations in football are so much more fun than flying."

Oliver looked at her, amused. "So, you have been teasing me for months for obsessing over Quidditch whilst you have been equally obsessing over another sport?"

Melissa blushed at this. "Football is different."

"Sure." Oliver said disbelievingly. He then stood up and offered his hand to Melissa. "Do you want to dance?"

Melissa looked at his hand anxiously. "I'm not a very good dancer."

"You can't be any more worse than Percy." Oliver nodded over to where Percy was failing to dance with Penelope, constantly standing on her toes. Melissa giggled at the clumsy boy and decided on taking the hand in front of her.

"Sure. Why not?"

Her hand in his, Oliver led her onto the dancefloor. It wasn't as busy as it was before, giving them space to move around in. Melissa had placed her free hand onto his shoulder, Oliver carefully placed his at her waist as they kept their other hands intertwined. They swayed gently to the music in silence before a few moments before Oliver spoke again.

"So do you think that I could be a keeper in football then?"

"Well, you need to be good with your hands..." Melissa's cheeks reddened in recognition of what she just said. Oliver threw his head back and laughed. "Didn't mean it like that. But yeah, I'm sure you could once you got used to being on the ground and not on a broomstick."

"I might need to try it sometime."

"I would offer to play against you but that would be unfair on you." Melissa smirked.

"Oh, really? You consider yourself good?" Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"I'm alright. I used to play a lot before coming to Hogwarts but it is a bit difficult to play it here, as you could imagine."

"Do you want to be a professional player when you leave here?" Oliver asked.

"I probably can't now. I'm nowhere near good enough. Plus football is considered more of a male sport. I will probably just apply for a job at the Ministry I think. Do you want to play Quidditch professionally?"

"Yeah, I have always dreamt of playing for Puddlemere United, my favourite team. I'm gonna try and go along to their tryouts sometime next year."

"That sounds good. Maybe then I could actually want you to win a Quidditch game." Melissa joked but Oliver began to imagine her cheering him on from the stands at Puddlemere United. Oliver immediately dismissed the thought. Melissa doesn't even like Quidditch, he thought to himself. And even if she did, he highly doubted that she liked him enough to cheer him on, despite that stupid smile that remained on her face the entire time she talked to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the weird and kinda rushed endning, I realised that I was writing wayyy too much for one chapter so have had to split this one into two :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas Party part II

  
Melissa was actually enjoying her time on the dancefloor with Oliver. Their constant conversation distracted Melissa from the fact she was dancing and the nerves she had over falling over and embarrassing herself. That was until her friends seemingly appeared from nowhere, catching her off guard. She stumbled slightly but Oliver's grip kept her on her feet.

"Hey." she greeted her friends with a smile.

"Hey, can we borrow Melissa for a dance?" Esther asked, sending a smirk Melissa's way.

"Yeah, sure." Oliver smiled at Esther but failed to acknowledge the two other girls that had came across with her. Melissa released her hand from Oliver's and gave him a shy smile.

"I'll see you in a bit." she said, turning towards her friends who had mixed expressions on each of their faces.

They walked over a little further into the dancefloor before settling on a place to dance playfully together. But Melissa knew that this was just an excuse to gossip.

"So, Oliver Wood is your mysterious date then?" Kelsey said through a fake smile.

"Uh, yeah." Melissa responded awkwardly.

"I knew you sat next to him in Potions now, but I didn't think you got on_ that _well. How long have you two been a thing?" Kelsey asked, but Melissa detected that it was not through genuine interest.

"Oh, we are not together." Melissa tried to smile, but her frustration towards her blonde friend was resurfacing slightly.

"Yet." Melissa heard Esther mutter next to her. Melissa shot her a warning look.

"But that is enough about me, how are you guys getting on?" Melissa asked, directing the attention towards them having been starting to feel uncomfortable with the conversation concerning her.

"Great." Rose said with an uncharacteristic confidence. "Vincent is an absolute gentleman!"

"I've been having fun," Esther said. "Jacob has been great company."

"Meanwhile I am stuck with boring Pucey. It seems like I am the only one who isn't enjoying the company of my date." Kelsey screwed up her otherwise pretty face as she spoke.

Melissa had to restrain ourselves from letting out the waspish remarks that formed in her head at Kelsey's words. Adrian Pucey was one of the few guys at the school who seemed to be genuine and kind. She felt pity towards him and the way that Kelsey was treating him.

"Flint is staring at you." Melissa heard Esther whisper to her as she was caught up in her annoyed thoughts about Kelsey.

"Huh? Oh... him. I totally forgot he existed." Melissa turned around and glared at the Slytherin boy.

"He definitely hasn't forgotten about you." said Esther as Melissa warily watched Flint approach Oliver and Jacob, who were sitting alone at one of the tables. Esther must have noticed the worry on Melissa's face. "Don't worry, Wood and Jacob can handle him fine."

Esther then dragged Melissa a little away from Rose and Kelsey to have a private conversation with her. "I meant what I said about you and Wood earlier by the way. You two would be cute together and you obviously like each other."

"_Pur_-lease." Melissa scoffed. "Oliver Wood thinks little of anything that isn't Quidditch. I doubt he ever has time to think of me like that when he is constantly thinking about the next Quidditch match."

Esther looked at her with incredulity. "That isn't true and you know it." Melissa looked away, not wanting to confront this issue. Esther could sense her friend's unease. "Trust me, Melissa. He likes you. I don't know if he knows it yet but he does. And you definitely like him."

Melissa narrowed her eyes. "I don't."

But she knew deep down that she was lying. Oliver Wood had warmed up to her these past few weeks. She had never seen him like that until he had asked her to this party, but since then he had her attention. She began to notice that the lines on his forehead creased when he was concentrating or thinking seriously about something (usually Quidditch) and found it fun to tease him when he was like this to watch the lines on his forehead disappear and the annoyed look to replace it instead. She liked the way that he listened to her and was able to give her a taste of her own medicine sometimes, leaving her annoyed but still amused and entertained by their interactions. And whilst she enjoyed poking fun at his Quidditch obsession, she had to admit that she was beginning to appreciate it. It showed that he was driven and determined, and as a Slytherin, those were attributes that she admired. Merlin, maybe she did like Oliver Wood.

"Okay, maybe I do." she corrected herself, only for a smug 'told you so' look to form on Esther's face. "But there is no point in me getting my hopes up about anything happening."

"You'll never know if you never try. You could be like that Muggle story you told me about... what was it again? The one about the two lovers from opposing sides?" 

"Romeo and Juliet?"

"Yes, that one!"

"They kill themselves in the end!" Melissa exclaimed.

"Oh, okay then. Maybe a less extreme version of that then."

Melissa laughed at her friend. "I'm sick of talking about Oliver Wood. Tell me all about how your night is going with Jacob."

"Oh, it is going so well. We've had a lot of fun. We only really talked briefly in Charms but tonight has been different, you know? I just really hope he likes me back." Esther explained.

"I don't think you need to worry about that, he has been staring at you all night like a lovesick puppy." Melissa looked over to indeed find Jacob staring at Esther and walking over towards the two of them. "Speaking of the devil," she whispered to Esther. "Hey, Jacob!"

Esther whipped her head around and Melissa noticed that her eyes lit up at the sight of the boy. "Hey, Melissa. Is it alright if I have a minute to talk to Esther?"

"Of course." Melissa subtly winked at Esther.

"Oh, and Melissa. You may want to save Oliver from Marcus Flint before they end up hexing each other." Jacob said as Melissa began to walk away.

"I'll handle it." Melissa sniggered at the thought of Marcus Flint being hexed across the hall but did not think that Oliver would take well to having to face detention because of it and thus missing valuable time for Quidditch practice.

"Hey, Oliver." she smiled warmly at Oliver as she approached, taking the seat next to him. "Flint." she acknowledged the boy sitting across from them in a more cold and reserved manner.

Melissa could feel the tension between the two as she sat down and it only seemed to increase with her presence. The two were staring each other down across the table and neither seemed to be paying her much attention. She let out a sigh of annoyance.

"Save it for the Quidditch pitch, you two." she said in a stern tone.

Flint was the first to break off the stare to send a sly smile Melissa's way. "Sorry, love. We were just discussing how unfortunate it was that our game was postponed. Maybe if it was against Slytherin, Malfoy would have caught the snitch before the Dementors appeared." he smirked, watching Oliver's reactions to his words.

Melissa felt Oliver tense up next to her. She placed her hand over his under the table to stop him doing anything stupid. She could feel Oliver glancing over at her, confused. She cleared her throat and decided to ignore Flint's comment.

"Anyway, I was wondering if Oliver wanted to come a walk with me? I think I need some fresh air." Melissa turned to Oliver and tried to send him a hint that they needed to walk away from Marcus Flint and his snarky comments before he inevitably went too far. However, before Oliver could respond, Flint decided to interject.

"Well I was just going to ask you if you wanted to dance?"

Oliver looked at her expectedly and Melissa could feel his hand slip out from underneath hers.

"Sorry, I am all danced out tonight." Melissa pretended to wipe sweat from her forehead as she spoke.

"Just one dance?" Flint pressed further.

Can this boy not take a hint? Melissa was ready to respond when Oliver's voice stopped her.

"She said no, Flint."

Oliver's voice had an edge to it that Melissa had not heard from him before. She turned her head around to him in shock. He ignored her look and stood up. Melissa stared for a moment at his hand offered out to her before hesitantly taking it. Oliver pulled her up to her feet and kept her hand firmly in his as they began to walk out the Great Hall. He didn't fail to send Flint a glare in the way past, of course.

Melissa's hand remained in his as they managed to reach the courtyard outside without uttering a word to each other. Melissa felt a little awkward around Oliver ever since admitting to Esther that she might like him. And the fact she was far too aware of his hand in hers and the effect that it was having on her did not help either. She felt her heart fluttering in her chest with every step that they took.

"Sorry about Flint, by the way." she finally said through uneven breaths.

"It's alright. Is he always that...keen?" Oliver stopped and looked at her. Much to Melissa's disappointment, he had dropped her hand.

"Uh, yeah. He wasn't that bad at the start but I think that once I started refusing him so much, he took it to the extremes."

"Right," Oliver nodded. "He must really like you if he is that determined."

Oliver looked to Melissa as if challenging her to see if there was any affection there for Marcus Flint. Melissa smiled at him.

"Maybe. That is what my friends say but I have always been skeptical about his true intentions. Even if he did truly like me, I would still be the same. I don't like him like that and I don't think I ever will."

Oliver was blinking in surprise at her bluntness which caused her to chuckle.

"I hope he didn't bother you too much, though." Melissa's expression softened as she spoke to Oliver.

"No. No more than usual." Oliver shook his head and took a seat on a bench. Melissa followed his movements and sat down beside him.

"Oh, by the way. I have something important that I need to discuss with you." Melissa said in a serious tone. Oliver looked worried at this.

"What?"

"Well, I still need to get Fred and George back for the hair incident."

"No, I am not helping you with that. I will not have them after me!" Fear washed over Oliver's face at the prospect.

Melissa pouted. "But you saw what they did to my hair! It was a mess! It is still lingering in my hair a little!"

"It was funny though," Oliver noted. "And I thought it suited you. Maybe the Sorting Hat misplaced you."

Melissa was offended by this. She placed her hand on her heart in feigned hurt. "Wow, insinuating that I should be a Gryffindor? No need to stoop that low, Wood."

Oliver scoffed indignantly. "You are saying that like it is an insult to be put into Gryffindor."

"It is for me! I'm a Slytherin through and through. If any of us could be in the other house, it is you."

It was Oliver's turn to be offended. "Me? A Slytherin? Not a chance!"

"Uh huh. You are obviously ambitious and determined, especially when it comes to Quidditch. You are intensely loyal. From what I can tell, you are a fairly good captain, which suggests a knack for leadership and your obsession - sorry, interest - with planning Quidditch matches indicates that you are at least a little resourceful."

Oliver took a moment to process her words, his scrunched up features slowly softening. "Is this your backwards way of complimenting me, Carter?"

Melissa had to suppress the blush forming on her cheeks. "Maybe. I'm trying to soften you so you will help me out with the twins."

"See, there's always an ulterior motive with Slytherins. You can never trust them. That's why I am _not_ anything like a Slytherin."

"Oliverrrrr, just please help me get back at Fred and George."

Melissa was now moving closer to him, doing her best doe eyed expression. Oliver looked at her strangely, observing her behaviour closely. "Is this your manipulation tactic? Are you sure you really are _'Slytherin through and through'_? This isn't intimating in the slightest!"

Melissa's features immediately hardened. "Help me or I will go back into the hall and spill all your secrets to Flint." her tone was now emotionless and flat.

Oliver smiled, seeing through her facade. "I don't believe you. That worked the first time but I know you now. You would never give Flint any indication that you like him back."

"I like Pucey though. And Bole. I'll tell them. You owe me for not telling them ages ago. I have been far too nice to you."

Oliver narrowed his eyes. "I think I preferred nice Melissa."

Melissa giggled and shook her head. "So, you in or not?"

"I suppose so. It seems I have no choice." Oliver said with a small smile.

"Great! So, I need you to hold them back after next Quidditch training session. I will sneak into the showers in the changing room and slip some frogspawn soap inside."

"No," Oliver said strictly. "I can't. I have diagrams everywhere in there. I can't leave you alone with them. As you said, you could tell Pucey and Bole about them."

Melissa rolled her eyes. "You really think I would betray your trust like that? Plus, I don't know enough about Quidditch to really harm your chances against Slytherin if I told them."

"I think you know more about it than you let on and it depends if you like Pucey and Bole more than me."

Melissa grinned mischievously. "Now you mention it, I have always had a little crush on Pucey."

Melissa watched as suddenly, colour started to drain from Oliver's face. He was believing her. Melissa giggled and shoved Oliver's shoulder playfully. "I'm just kidding. I do like Pucey, but not like that."

_'Not like how I like you'_ Melissa added on in her head. She was so distracted in her own thoughts that she failed to notice what seemed to be relief wash over Oliver's face for a few seconds before it returned to it's normal serious expression.

"Okay, fine. But if I hear that our secrets have been spilled, I will not hesitant in sending the twins after you."

  
✧   
  
  


When Melissa and Oliver returned to the hall, they were greeted by a very excited Esther rushing up to them. She jumped onto Melissa, who stumbled back a bit. Oliver watched on in amusement.

"Jacob asked me to be his girlfriend!" Esther exclaimed once she pulled out of the embrace.

"See! I told you he liked you back! You two are so cute!" Melissa grinned excitedly at her friend.

"I think we should start listening to each other more when it comes to us knowing what boys like each other." Esther smirked, glancing from Melissa back to Oliver beside her. "So where have you two been? I have been looking for you everywhere!"

"Oh, we were away for a walk." Melissa shrugged as if it was nothing but Esther definitely didn't see it as nothing as she began smirking again.

"Well, Jacob and I are just going to take part in the last dance. Are you going to join us?" Esther asked.

Melissa looked to Oliver who shrugged at her. "You still danced out?" he gave her a toy grin, referring to her earlier words to Flint.

"You know what? I don't think I am." Melissa returned the grin.

"I'll go find Flint for you, then." Oliver began to walk away but Melissa grabbed his arm and pulled him back, laughing at him.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Come on, then."

Melissa beamed as Oliver took her hand again and walked her back to the dancefloor near to where Jacob was waiting for Esther.

"Just so you know, you have the best friend approval. But if you hurt her, I _will_ come after you." Melissa told Jacob before Esther walked over to him.

"Of course." Jacob smiled back at her.

The song that was playing was a lot slower than the ones earlier, which made Melissa feel a little embarrassed as she placed her free hand back onto Oliver's shoulder and his hand found her waist again. Melissa wasn't quite sure what made her do it, but she removed her hand from around his and placed it on his other shoulder. Oliver didn't seem to mind. In fact, he took her lead and placed his other hand on her waist too. They were now dancing a lot closer than before, but Melissa was still hesitant to look up towards him, her nerves overwhelming her.

Over Oliver's shoulder, she caught the eye of Esther who smiled encourgily at her and gestured for Melissa to look above. Melissa did glance above her head and immediately regretted it as she saw mistletoe, causing her to feel all kinds of embarrassment. Oliver must have noticed her flustered look as he followed her gaze and shared her embarrassment. They both looked down from the mistletoe, staring at each other sheepishly.

However, the more that they glanced at each other, the more they seemed to filter out of embarrassment and instead, a glint of intrigue and want flashed in their eyes. Suddenly there heads were so close that their noses were nearly touching. It was then that Melissa noticed just how much smaller she was in comparison to Oliver as she had to stand a little on her tiptoes to reach him.

Their lips were only inches from each other's and it looked like Oliver was willing to make the final move and then-

"Oliver!" came a voice from beside them. Oliver snapped out of his trance and pulled back a little, his hands remaining on her waist. The little flash of annoyance didn't go unnoticed by Melissa.

"What is it, Percy?" Oliver asked the boy who had just appeared, a hint of frustration in his tone.

"Barty Crouch from the Ministry was here tonight. I just had a chat with him. I think he is here to see the potential for the Ministry next year. I think I made a good impression." Percy said fervently.

"Good for you, Percy." Oliver managed through gritted teeth.

Percy then strolled away to presumably tell anyone he could see about his conversation with Barty Crouch. Oliver turned back to the blushing Melissa and sighed. Melissa thought he was going to lean in again when Kelsey appeared , tapping Melissa on the shoulder. Oliver let go of her waist this time, seemingly giving up. Melissa removed her hands from his shoulders and turned around to her friend.

"We are heading back to the Common Room. You coming?"

"Um, okay. I'll catch you in a second."

With a short nod, Kelsey walked away leaving Melissa to say goodbye to Oliver on her own.

"Thanks for asking me. Your company wasn't actually that bad." said Melissa with a wry smile.

"The same goes to you." Oliver smiled, the pink in his cheeks still there form the almost kiss and the following frustration.

"Goodnight, Oliver."

"Goodnight, Melissa."

Melissa turned on her heels to leave but halted as she did not feel content with the way she was leaving. She bit her lip, considering what she was about to do a thousand times over.

"Oh, screw it." she whispered under her breath before turning back around and walking up to a confused and shocked Oliver.

She stood up on her tiptoes and planted a soft kiss on Oliver's cheek. She didn't say a word as she quickly walked out the hall, her stomach doing somersaults.

"What did I just do?"


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Twins get a taste of their own medicine. Melissa seeks some advice and unwilling gets a word of warning.

Melissa tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Oliver to pull the twins aside and for Harry to exit the changing rooms so that she could slip inside and put the frogspawn soap into the showers, ready for the twins. She hid between the wall of the male and female changing rooms, clutching her bag full of frogspawn soap, and was getting bored of waiting and staring at the wall.

She could hear Oliver chatting to the twins which indicated that he had managed to do his job. She now just had to wait for Harry to exit the changing room. Melissa did not want to intrude on the younger boy whilst he was getting changed. She did not want to be expelled for perving on younger students.

Harry finally exited the changing rooms but it turned out that Melissa did not find a very effective hiding place. Harry stared at her in shock and as his eyes trailed down to her Slytherin robes, his eyes narrowed sharply. He looked up at her and seemed almost angry at her. Melissa tried to speak but couldn't. All that she could muster was to place her index finger to her lip shakily.

Harry turned as if he was about to walk over to and confront Oliver about the Slytherin hiding near their changing room. However, he was stopped by Angelina, Alicia and Katie. Angelina looked to Melissa in surprise but then smirked knowingly.

"Oh, don't worry about her Harry. It's only Melissa Carter. She won't say or do anything. She's Oliver's girlfriend." Angelina patted the boy's shoulders.

Harry's eyes widened and looked back to Melissa in disbelief. Melissa also felt the eyes of the other two girls on her, observing her closely.

"I'm not his girlfriend." she said firmly, readjusting the bag on her arm.

"She isn't but she may as well be. Anyway, you waiting for Oliver? We can get him if you want?" Angelina asked.

"Oh no, it's fine. Oliver knows I am here. I'm here to prank the twins for what they did to my hair. Oliver is in on it."

"You got Oliver to take part in a prank? Wow, he must like you." Alicia said with a short laugh.

"Well, it did take some persuasion. Do you want to help me put these in the showers?" Melissa took some frogspawn soap out of the bag and offered it to the Quidditch players.

"I'm in!" Angelina exclaimed excitedly, accepting the soap.

"Me too." Alicia took the next bar of soap.

"Count me in." Katie gave a small giggle before taking her bar of soap.

"Sure, why not?" Harry shrugged, taking the second to last bar of soap.

"Great." Melissa tossed her bar of soap in the air. "It is time to show those Weasley twins that it is not wise to mess with me and my hair."

✧

The majority of the Gryffindor Quidditch team (plus Melissa) burst into hysterical laughter as the twins came running out of the changing rooms, squealing.

"There are tadpoles, EVERYWHERE." George exclaimed but then he caught sight of Melissa, his eyes immediately narrowing at her. "YOU." he said, pointing at her.

Fred, however, looked towards the chuckling Oliver. "You..._you_ helped her with this?"

Oliver nodded sheepishly. The twins looked at each other and then back to Oliver and then to Melissa. Fred approached her and offered his hand to her. Melissa looked at it skeptically.

"What have you done to it?" she asked, flicking her gaze from his hand to his face.

"Nothing. It's a truce. No more pranking between us."

"Are you sure? You two are the ones that started it."

"Well we only did it because you decided to evade punishment and let us take all the blame." George interjected.

"Fine." Melissa shook his hand and thankfully for her nothing bad happened.

"Right come on, we need to hurry before we miss breakfast." Oliver's voice sounded from behind them.

"Okay, Captain Ollie. Just know that we are letting you off with this one." Fred said with his usual mischievous grin.

"Yeah, it is clear you are whipped. Instead we applaud Melissa over here for actually managing to get you involved." George added, matching his twin's grin.

"Shut up you two and go and clean the showers before we have an infestation of frogs in there." Oliver said seriously.

The twins seemed to abide by this order and bickered between themselves as they walked back into the changing room. Once they were gone, Melissa sprung herself onto Oliver, giving him a tight hug.

"We did it!" she exclaimed. "We pranked the biggest pranksters in Hogwarts!"

However, she pulled away with her nose scrunched up. "Ew, Oliver. You are all sweaty!"

"What did you expect? I have just been in Quidditch practice and you have robbed me of my shower by infesting it with tadpoles." Oliver poked her cheek playfully.

Since the party a few nights ago and the almost kiss, Melissa expected things to get awkward between them but they didn't. In fact, it was the opposite. They seemed closer than ever, and more touchy too.

Melissa gave him a playful push. "So sorry_, Captain Ollie_."

"No. You are not going to start calling me that. No." Oliver shook his head frantically.

Melissa pouted and could hear Angelina talk to her Quidditch teammates behind them. "See, I told you. Look at them, they may as well be together!"

✧

Melissa had all of her belongings jammed into her small suitcase that sat on her bed. A bar of chocolate lay on top of the suitcase that Melissa picked up and pocketed. 

Melissa was leaving Hogwarts over Christmas and as was her roommates. Esther had yet to pack, but the rest all had their suitcases packed full and their beds and surroundings uncommonly uncluttered. Melissa glanced at her watch and noticed that she still had enough time to visit the one person she had been itching to talk to.

Melissa made her way through the familiar corridors that were being decorated festively for Christmas and came to a halt at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. She knocked gingerly and awaited for a reaction. Soon enough, she was met by a dishevelled looking Professor Lupin.

"Oh, hello Miss Carter. Please come in." 

Melissa followed him into his classroom, which always seemed like it was alive with all the moving objects clattering and whizzing about the classroom. There was also always the soft hymn of the record player in the background whenever Melissa visited out of class time.

"What can I do for you today then?" Lupin asked as he sat down behind his desk. Melissa took a seat from one of the student desks and pulled it to the opposite side of his desk.

"I noticed that you have been a bit unwell recently so I got you a little Christmas present." Melissa said as she pulled out the bar of chocolate and sat it on Lupin's desk.

"That is very kind of you, Miss Carter. Thank you very much." Lupin accepted the chocolate with a kind, warm smile and placed it in his drawer.

"And well, I also wanted to ask you about something?" said Melissa hesitantly.

"Go ahead." Lupin gave her an encouraging smile.

"Well, I was wondering if it was possible that the Sorting Hat can get things wrong?" Melissa looked down at her lap in shame.

"You don't think you belong in Slytherin?"

"Don't get me wrong, I am proud to be a Slytherin. I love my house. I think we can be very misunderstood and I wouldn't want to be in any other house but I just sometimes doubt whether or not I belong there."

"What makes you think that?"

"I was talking to, uh, someone about houses the other day. They joked that I wasn't being very Slytherin and that maybe the Sorting Hat should have put me in Gryffindor. I know that he was joking about it but it had me thinking about it. I look around at my fellow Slytherins and sometimes I think that they are so different to me and the other day I was hanging out with some Gryffindors and I felt like I got along with them better than some of my fellow Slytherins."

Melissa let out a long breath as she finished her conversation and felt like a massive weight was lifted off her shoulders as she ranted out all the things that had been plaguing her mind these past few days. Lupin observed her closely, giving her a moment to recompose herself before speaking again.

"To answer your original question: no, I do not think the Sorting Hat makes mistakes. I think the Sorting Hat was fully aware of what he was doing when he placed you in Slytherin. You are probably one of the most Slytherin people I have ever met and I mean that in the best way possible. You are all of the things that makes a Slytherin a Slytherin, but maybe the difference between you and some of the other Slytherins is that you use these characteristics for the good. You let your ambition and determination drive yourself to perfect your studies and your social life and you use your cunning and resourcefulness to help others. Maybe that is what makes you feel different to your peers.

"And as for you getting on with Gryffindors, it only shows that you are mature enough to know that a person isn't defined by their Hogwarts House and that this is something you can look past if you get to know them well enough. And that is something great to have. Merlin, I wish I was mature enough at your age to recognise that!" 

Melissa let Lupin's words console her, but there was still that doubt lingering at the back of her mind, eating away at the reassurance she had just received and she knew perfectly well where that was coming from. She took a deep breath and began to speak again. This time there was an air of uncertainty in her voice.

"There is something else to it. I-I know that you are a werewolf. I have known since Snape decided to give a lesson on werewolves from out of nowhere whilst you were ill. But don't worry, I won't tell a single person. I promise. I have become rather good at keeping secrets. I am only telling you this because I am a Muggleborn. And it know that isn't quite the same as being a werewolf but I thought that maybe you would be one of the only ones to understand what it is like having to hide your true self from others in fear of judgement. I know that most within my house will be disgusted by my blood status if they ever found out." 

Lupin looked at her in shock, taking a few moments to process the information she had just given him. He then swallowed deeply, then nodded.

"Yes, it isn't great having to hide a part of yourself from everyone else but you have to learn to accept who you are and embrace it. If you embrace it, none of what they could possibly say to you can harm you. And I know that can be difficult, I am still learning to do that everyday, even now but it will come. And I wouldn't worry too much about judgement from your fellow Slytherins. If Slytherins are anything, they are loyal to their own. Although most purebloods get sorted into Slytherin, most of them are half-bloods these days. They will come around eventually. And if they don't well, they are the less Slytherin than they think they are."

"But Salazar Slytherin-"

"Lived and died a long time ago. Time have changed since then." Lupin interjected before Melissa could argue. She smiled gratefully at him. 

"Thanks, Professor."

"It is no bother, Miss Carter. I hope you don't mind me asking, but do any other students actually know of your blood status?"

"Uh, yes. My best friend Esther Tavendale knows. So does Oliver Wood." Melissa looked to the floor in embarrassment. Lupin raised a brow.

"And what do they think?"

"Well, Esther was shocked at first but she soon came around. She has been very supportive of me ever since and Wood never seemed bothered about it. More disbelief than anything, I suppose." Melissa shrugged, looking back up at Professor Lupin again.

"See, those who are real friends to you will understand and see that your blood-status does not make you any less of a person. Trust me, I know. My friends at school helped me out whenever I needed them most. It is important to keep them close."

"Thank you so much, Professor Lupin. You have no idea how much you have helped me today." Melissa looked at her Professor in gratitude.

"Yes, well us outcasts have to stick together, right?"

"Of course."

✧

Melissa sat in a compartment with Esther, Rose, Kelsey and Jacob. Kelsey was watching Jacob and Esther closely and carefully. Melissa kept glancing at Kelsey over the pages of the book that she was reading, wondering just what was going through her head as she watched them. 

Esther was giggling at something Jacob said when the compartment door swung open and Melissa turned around, sighing at the sight of Marcus Flint. 

"Everywhere else is full, can I sit in here?" he asked, but didn't wait for a response as he pushed himself between Esther and Melissa. 

Melissa groaned in annoyance and moved closer to the window to give herself the personal space that Flint had robbed from her. Flint, as ever, didn't take the hint. 

"What you reading?" he asked Melissa.

"Oh, just some book on the History of Goblins." Melissa said, not removing her gaze from her book. 

Fortunately for Melissa, Kelsey decided to speak up. "So, what are you doing over the Christmas break, Marcus?" 

"Not a lot." Marcus casually responded. 

"Oh." Kelsey huffed at the lack of attention and slugged back into her seat across from Flint.

Flint instead shuffled closer to Melissa, whose focus remained on her book. But it was hard to concentrate when Marcus Flint kept using the bumps of the train as an excuse to move even closer to her. She snapped her book shut and left it to her side. The triumphant smile that was forming on Flint's face was soon wiped off his face when she spoke. 

"I have to go see Oliver about something." 

Melissa got up and walked briskly out of the compartment they were in. Whilst she searched the compartments for a certain Gryffindor, she noticed just how many were actually empty. 

"That git." she muttered under her breath as she thought back to Flint and what he said. 

Finally, she stumbled upon the one she wanted to find. Inside was Oliver, Angelina, Percy and Penelope. Melissa nervously opened the door and slid inside. 

"Hi." she smiled at them all.

"Hey, Melissa." Penelope returned a kind smile. "Oliver, make room for her." 

Oliver did as Penelope said and patted the space next to him. Melissa sat down and shuffled awkwardly as she felt everyone's eyes on here. Oliver must have sensed her discomfort.

"What brings you here and away from your Slytherin posse?" he asked.

"Flint decided to turn up." Melissa scoffed in annoyance. Oliver chuckled at this. "Oh, and I wanted to give you something." 

Melissa shuffled around in her pockets and took out a piece of parchment and passed it to Oliver. "Don't worry, you haven't left another Quidditch diagram lying about. It is my address so that you can owl me over the Christmas break. You don't have to, of course. Only if you want to." 

Melissa looked sheepishly down at her legs and felt a sudden rush of warmth through her. 

"I will do. Thanks Melissa." Oliver smiled at her. She returned the smile before noticing the rest of the people at the compartment smirking at the two of them. She cleared her throat. 

"So are you all looking forward to Christmas?" she asked, glancing around to everyone in the compartment.

"Yeah," Angelina nodded. "It will be nice to get away from the threat of Sirius Black and the Demonters for a while."

Melissa nodded in agreement and listened as the others shared their excitement towards Christmas and their plans for the small break they got. She stayed in that compartment for the best part of an hour before deciding that she should probably go back to her friends. 

"Bye, see you all in a few weeks." she waved at them all and walked back into the corridors only to be pulled into another by someone she couldn't see. She let out a short scream and then turned around to see who it was. 

"Flint! Don't you do that to me again!" she said sternly, crossing her arms over her chest and taking a step back from him.

"We need to talk." he said seriously.

"What's so serious that you need to drag me unexpectedly into an empty compartment?" 

Flint ignored her comment. "Why did you go to the party with Oliver Wood?" 

"Because he asked me and I said yes." said Melissa like it was obvious. 

"Why did he ask you?" 

"I don't know. Why don't you ask him?" 

"No, I need you to think about it. Why did Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain ask you, a Slytherin, to a Christmas Party?"

Melissa thought, but could come to no conclusion so she shrugged at Flint. He sighed in frustration. 

"It is so obvious! He is using you to get to me! He wants to know our secrets." Flint was suddenly moving towards Melissa who kept backing away from him until she was up against a wall.

"Don't be so self-centered, Flint. All the times he has talked to me, he hasn't asked about you once." 

That was a lie. But Melissa did not want to fuel Flint's suspicions. 

"You actually like him?" Flint asked, observing her closely.

"And what if I do?" Melissa challenged, looking him dead in the eye. 

"You are being stupid! I have liked you for a while and have chased after you for over a year now and you throw this away for some stupid Gryffindor who is only using you for their own advantage!" Flint raised his voice at her but didn't flinch. Instead, she straightened her back and looked back at him with a menacing stare.

"Just because you like me, doesn't mean I should like you, Flint. I was perfectly pleasant with you until you started to bother me. You should learn to take a hint." 

And with that, she barged past him and out of the compartment. 

✧

Oliver watched as the dark haired girl exited the compartment only to see all his friends gazing at him knowingly. He glared at them dubiously. 

"Can you just ask her to be your girlfriend already?" Penelope said in an exasperated tone. 

Oliver rolled his eyes. "We're friends." 

"Was that what you were thinking when you nearly kissed her?" Oliver looked over at Penelope in shock at her words. "Oh, you have no idea how annoyed I was at Percy for ruining that moment!"

Penelope gave Percy a playful push as Percy's cheeks reddened. "I'm sorry. I didn't realise. I just got excited." he said directly to Oliver, who shrugged in response and took a sudden interest in the scenery passing him by outside. 

"If you are worried about her not liking you back, I can ensure you that most girls don't go around telling boys they don't like to owl them." Angelina pointed out, not noticing that Oliver wished to hear the end of this conversation. 

"She's a Slytherin. I'm a Gryffindor. Those two things don't combine well." he finally muttered, not tearing his eyes away from the window.

"Don't be dumb, Oliver," Penelope spoke. "You can't push back your feelings because of her House. Yes, she is a Slytherin but that isn't the only thing about her. There is more to life than what your Hogwarts House is."

Oliver thought over Penelope's words for the remainder of the journey back to Kings Cross. Was the fact that Melissa was a Slytherin really the thing stopping him from confronting his feelings for her? He thought about Quidditch. He really wanted to win the Quidditch Cup this year. It was the one thing he had always dreamt of. Lifting the Quidditch Cup in front of the entire school and watching the distaste on the face of every Slytherin. Well, maybe not _every _Slytherin. But he didn't need a distraction from all this. Especially pretty girls called Melissa. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver goes to his first football game and tries his hand at being a different kind of keeper.

Melissa bit into a Chocolate Frog that Esther had bought for her as a Christmas present as she pondered over the letter that she was writing. Deciding that she had written enough, she signed it off and put down her quill. She looked at where her owl Bernie was sitting on her windowsill above her desk. She had her bedroom window slightly ajar. Melissa didn't know why but she loved the smell and freshness of winter air. The smokey smell from the chimneys; the sharpness of the cold air that creeped in through the gap and the fact that it kept her bedroom just the right temperature for her to cover herself head to toe in blankets and jumpers as she spent most of her days curled up on her desk chair drinking hot chocolate, reading books from her stacked bookshelf and writing letters.

"Melissa! Dinner is ready!" she heard her father shout from downstairs. She sighed, picked up her empty mug and made her way downstairs.

Her Dad's signature dish -sausages and mashed potatoes - sat at the table. One plate was on each side and Melissa took the seat in her usual place at the table. 

"Was that your owl arriving earlier?" her dad asked as he sat down and picked up his clutery.

"Yeah." Melissa said as she scooped up some of the mashed potatoes and shoved them into her mouth.

"You seem to be a lot more popular than usual."

Melissa hummed vaguely in response and her dad must have gotten the idea as he dropped the subject.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that I don't think I will be able to make it to the game on Sunday. I have a meeting away in Manchester. I will probably have to stay the night."

Melissa's heart dropped at the words. She had been looking forward to going to a football game with her dad. She felt like that was one of the only opportunities for them to bond and for him to actually listen to her and not be more interested in his work. All through winter break she had been almost ignored at every opportunity by her father who was always seemingly plagued with work, either hidden up in his room surrounded by papers or away to get something from his office. The only exception of course was Christmas. Not even workaholic Mr.Carter could deny himself the joys of Christmas and spending time with the whole family.

But that had been it. He hadn't had much of a conversation with Melissa since, except for casual chit chat over the table and breakfast and dinner time. Melissa was hoping that the football game was finally going to be the chance for them to have some proper family time. But, as it turned out, not even football was going to be enough to pull him away from work this time.

"Oh, that is fine. I can still go though?" she asked in a hopeful tone. At least she would still have a football game to look forward to and not be and home alone all the time.

"Yeah, of course. I was going to sell my ticket at work but you can keep yours."

"Wait," Melissa suddenly said, a spontaneous idea springing to mind. "Can you keep that ticket? I might invite one of my friends to school along."

"Yeah, sure." her dad shrugged but there was an air of uncertainty with his words.

✧

Melissa rushed back up the stairs after she had finished her dinner and helped her dad with the dishes. Without sitting down, Melissa picked up her quill and added a quick note at the end of her letter:

_P.s I have an extra ticket for a football game on the 3rd. You are free to come along to see what a real sport is like. It's up to you though. If you would rather think about broomsticks instead, I'd understand (who am I kidding, I will never understand your Quidditch obsession) _ツ

Before she could give it a second thought, she attached the letter to Bernie's leg and watched him fly off. Bernie didn't even need to be told where it was going. He already knew. Melissa had been writing to Oliver for the majority of the Christmas break. Every 2/3 days, Bernie was flying through her bedroom window with a new letter and leaving again a few hours later with the reply. 

Melissa had to admit that she was growing more and more fond of Oliver through their letters. Isolated from the rest of the magical world and all its complexities and divisions, Melissa had realised that she did truly have feelings for him. But she tried not to dwell on them too much. She didn't want to appear weak and she didn't want to ruin the friendship that they had built. It was nice to talk to someone out of her House and someone who didn't have the exact same interests and personality as her. It forced her to develop new outlooks on things she hadn't even considered before but she wouldn't let it get the best of her.

✧

Melissa watched her cereal swim around in the milk a few days later. She was anxiously awaiting Oliver's response and for some reason her nerves were at an all time high that morning. She was brought out of her thoughts when the sound of pecking on glass sounded throughout the kitchen. Melissa nearly knocked over her bowl of cereal as she stood and rushed over to the window to let Bernie in.

"Careful." her father said, peering over his newspaper having heard the small commotion Melissa had caused.

"Sorry." Melissa said in a disinterested tone, her full attention on taking the letter from Bernie and giving him a piece of granola before he could bite her fingers off. Once it seemed like Bernie was content enough with his situation, Melissa casually strolled back to her seat at the kitchen table. She unfolded the piece of parchment and began to read.

_'Melissa,_  
_Glad to hear you had a nice Christmas, although I cannot believe you were not keeping up with the Quidditch World Cup Qualifiers! It was England that was playing and they topped the group! You should at least be a little happy at that! As you can imagine, my family did not take that well. (Scotland didn't make it out the group stages). And yes, I would love to go to a football game. I need to see firsthand if it is as good as you make it out to be! What time should I arrive?_  
_Oliver.'_

Melissa beamed as she read the letter and was glad that her dad was too invested in his newspaper to pay attention to the stupid smile on her face.

"I'm just gonna write back to my friend. They can come along to the game." Melissa toned her smile down a bit as she stood.

"Oh, that is nice." her dad replied, giving her a small grin over his newspaper.

Once Melissa was back in her room, she sat down at the desk near her window. She pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment and hastily scribbled her response:

_'Oliver,_  
_Maybe England are better at Quidditch than they are at football then. Although it seems that Scotland are just as bad at Quidditch. Do you know if France or Russia topped their group? Flint told me it would be France. I hope he was wrong. And that is great! Anytime around midday will be fine. See you then._  
_Melissa.'_

She folded the parchment once she was done and skipped back downstairs to the kitchen to find Bernie again. She could tell that Bernie was becoming tired with the endless journeys he had these last few weeks. Melissa gave him an encouraging pat as she tied the letter to his leg.

"This will be the last one for a while."

✧

January the 3rd came around quickly and Melissa was pacing around her lounge as the time neared midday. She sighed, giving up with the pacing and decided to flick through a random magazine she found on the coffee table instead. She was just about to put down the magazine in boredom when a loud_ 'pop!' _sounded. Melissa jumped in fright.

"Oliver! You scared me!"

"Well, you knew that I was arriving here around about now." Oliver was glancing around the lounge in genuine interest. "Your house is nice."

"Thanks... I suppose. You ready for your first football experience?" Melissa reached for a scarf next to her and chucked it towards Oliver who caught it effortlessly. "Good reflexes."

"What's this for?" Oliver asked, observing the claret and sky blue scarf carefully.

"It's so you at least fit in a little and to keep you warm. It is winter and we will be sitting around a lot."

"What team do you support? I never asked." Oliver said as he wrapped the scarf around his neck.

"West Ham United. Best club in England." said Melissa with a proud smile, showing off the badge on her shirt.

"Oh!" Oliver's face lit up in recognition. "Dean Thomas in Gryffindor supports them too I think."

"Well, he has good taste."

✧

"Why can't we just apparate?" Oliver asked, his body shivering as he tightened the scarf around his neck. Melissa wasn't lying about it being cold.

"Because this is a _muggle_ event. It will be very strange if we just appear out of thin air in front of them. Here, have a sip of my hot chocolate." Melissa offered her drink to him. It was a drink that Oliver had never heard of and was rather suspicious of it. But he trusted Melissa and the word 'hot' was very appealing to him right now.

Oliver gingerly took the cup and smelled it. It smelled very strongly of chocolate. Well at least he knew one ingredient in it. He took a small sip and let his taste buds process the taste before eagerly taking another one. It definitely tasted of chocolate, but it was also creamy and sweet. It most certainly did the job of warming up Oliver's insides. Although, he had to admit that it was nothing compared to a Butterbeer.

Oliver watched as he passed it back to Melissa. She gave the top of the cup a wipe with the sleeve of her coat.

"Can't go catching Oliver germs. Wouldn't want to start babbling on about Quidditch all the time." she smirked at him before taking a sip of the drink herself.

Oliver rolled his eyes in response and watched as a bus came to a stop in front of them. The bus was nothing like the Knight Bus that Oliver had to take once after he had went to a Quidditch match by himself. No, this bus looked plain and very muggle like. It only seemed to have one floor and had only seats in it. This looked far less exciting than a trip in the Knight Bus.

He followed Melissa as she walked onto the bus and talked to the bus driver. She gave him some odd looking money in exchange for two tickets. She smiled as she turned around to Oliver and passed him one.

"Here's your bus ticket. Don't lose it. We will need it for coming back." she said before leading him towards two empty seats near the back of the bus.

Melissa took the seat next to the window and Oliver sat down next to him. She gave him a smile and rummaged around in the bag she brought with her. It seemed to Oliver that she had used the Extendable Charm on it as it seemed full of random things. She pulled out another ticket and passed it to Oliver.

"And here is another ticket for you. This is for the game. Please don't lose it." Oliver gratefully took the ticket and put it into his pocket alongside the bus ticket.

"Why does it move so slow?" he asked, referring to the bus they were in that was now moving.

"It's a muggle bus, what do you expect?" Melissa said,raising a brow at him.

"I didn't think it would be this slow." he mumbled. "How long until we get there?"

"About 15 minutes."

15 minutes? Oliver supposed that one of the main advantages of the Wizarding World was the fact that travel was usually so quick and stressless.

"So, what do your parents do?" Oliver asked her. If the journey was to be as long, he might as well use it to get to know the reserved girl a little more.

Melissa looked a little uncomfortable at his question and Oliver immediately regretted asking it. But she answered calmly anyway.

"My dad works as a Manager for a company that makes Golf Clubs. Golf is another Muggle sport but I personally find it a bit boring. And well, my mum isn't around anymore." Melissa bit her lip as she spoke, playing with the loose thread on her jeans.

Guilt immediately washed over Oliver for bringing up the subject. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You didn't know. So, tell me what your parents do." she turned to him with an enthusiastic grin on her face, obviously interested in the jobs of his parents.

"Well, uh, my dad works in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes at the Ministry and my mum is an editor for Which Broomstick?."

"Oh, so does your Quidditch obsession come from your mother then?"

"Kind of, yeah. My dad is also into it as well though."

Melissa nodded and looked out the window for a moment before looking back to Oliver. "Since we are asking questions today, I need to know when your birthday is?"

"Uh, it was the first day of the Christmas break." Oliver said as he awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck.

Melissa sat upright and looked at him, offended. "And you didn't tell me? I didn't get you anything!"

"It's fine," Oliver shrugged. "I'm not a big fan of birthdays. Particularly my own. When is yours?"

Melissa still looked offended as she leaned back into her seat. "5th of March." she said casually.

"That's the day we play Ravenclaw!" Oliver exclaimed. Melissa rolled her eyes.

"And I bet you have already started planning for that." she said, eyeing him carefully.

"Of course." said Oliver, like it was obvious.

"Oh, this is our stop." Melissa said and stood up. Oliver followed her actions and walked to the side to allow her to walk past.

Melissa gave a cheery "thank you!" to the bus driver and Oliver copied her actions but sounded a little more apprehensive than Melissa. When Oliver stepped off the bus he was suddenly surrounded by a sea of people wearing claret and sky blue. In the distance, he could see a stadium. He stared at it for a moment but was brought out of his trance when he felt an hand grip around his wrist.

"That's Upton Park; our stadium. I know it's beautiful but we need to get moving before the queues get too long. Stay close." Melissa said to him before leading him through the crowd of people.

Oliver understood why Melissa said that it was a male dominated sport. Most of the people here were men and boys. There were a few women but everywhere Oliver looked, there were men standing with some sort of drink in hand. He began to wonder how Melissa wasn't intimidated by the environment. In contrast, she seemed as calm as always even as a few people barged into her. The hectic crowds seemed to simmer slightly as Melissa led Oliver towards a seemingly less busy area.

"Hey, Charlie." Oliver's head shot towards Melissa as she spoke to a boy around their age, who was holding a large pile of what looked like small books. Oliver watched the boy smile back to Melissa.

"Hey, Melissa. Not seen you around here in a while." Charlie said.

"I've just been so busy with school. They take our grades very seriously at St Winstons." Melissa said smoothly, but Oliver watched her glance down at her feet; a habit Oliver noticed that she did often before lying or hiding the truth.

Charlie didn't seem to notice this as his gaze landed on Oliver and Melissa's hand still around his wrist. "And who is this?" Charlie asked Melissa with a suggestive look.

"Oh, this is Oliver. He is a friend at my school. This is his first time seeing the Hammers play." Melissa said as she let go of his wrist.

"Nice to meet you, Oliver. I'm Charlie." Charlie offered his hand for Oliver to shake. Oliver did so and felt himself perhaps squeeze a bit too tightly. Oliver was too used to shaking hands with the Captains of the other Quidditch teams, which were always a bit more passive aggressive than a friendly handshake. Especially when it was Marcus Flint.

Melissa must have noticed Oliver's over enthusiastic handshake as she cleared her throat and offered Charlie some money. "An extra one today, Charlie."

Charlie took the money and handed Melissa two of the little books in return. Charlie looked at Oliver strangely as Melissa thanked him and began to walk towards the crowds again. As Oliver caught up to her, she turned to him and passed him one of the little books.

"What was that all about?" she asked him, presumably referring to the handshake.

"I'm not used to friendly handshakes. I'm more used to Flint trying to break my hand." Oliver shrugged and observed the front and back of the book she had just given him.It had the badge of West Ham on it as well as one that said 'Sheffield United' on it. Oliver presumed that was the team they were playing.

"Flint tries to break your hand when you shake hands?" Melissa asked in an incredulous tone.

"Yeah, we both try to. It's the rivalry. I always win though." Oliver said smugly.

"Oh, really?" Melissa raised a brow.

Oliver nodded before returning his attention to the book in his hands. He skimmed through it quickly. "What is this, by the way?" he asked.

"It's a match programme. It includes information on the team and things. It might help you understand things a little. Plus it is a good souvenir."

"Cool." Oliver opened it at a page that seemed to be an interview with one of the players.

"Yeah. Now, what stand are we in?" Melissa stopped walking and pulled out a ticket similar to the one she had given Oliver earlier. Oliver presumed that she was talking to herself rather than to him. "East Stand. Ok. Follow me."

Melissa offered her hand for Oliver to take. Oliver gladly took it, not trusting himself not to lose her in these crowds. She effortlessly made her way through the crowds with purpose, pulling Oliver along with her by his hand. She stopped at a small queue and got her ticket out of her pocket.

"Get your ticket out," she said to Oliver as she let go of his hand. Oliver did as she said. She then leaned close to him and readjusted the ticket in his hand. "Hold it this way. And put it in the machine for a few seconds until it turns green then walk through the barriers. It's a bit like Platform 9 and Three Quarters, I suppose. You think they will be solid but they will move. I'll be going first so just watch what I do and copy me."

Oliver nodded and stared at the ticket in deep thought. Soon enough, the line lessened until Melissa was in front of everyone else. Oliver watched her as she did what she had just told him to do. Once she was through the barrier, Oliver nervously did exactly what she did. He put his ticket into the machine and a few seconds later, a green emitted from it. Then then pushed his way through the barriers, which moved with his body. As soon as he was into the stadium, he saw the excited smile of Melissa.

"Come on, let's find our seats." she grabbed his hand again and dragged him along the sort of corridors they were in. The walls were a claret colour and had the badge plastered everywhere. Oliver noticed that on one side there was little stalls selling food and signs for toilets. The other side was far more captivating however. There were small gaps in the walls, that gave Oliver glimpses to the stadium outside. Melissa pulled him towards one of them and the air was caught in Oliver's lungs like he was hit with a stunning spell as he saw the stadium in full for the first time.

It was not as big or as grand as a Quidditch stadium but despite a lack of magic in this stadium, it still had a magical feel about it. The pitch was an immaculate green, how did they do that without spells? The seats were all claret and it clashed nicely with the vibrant green of the pitch. Oliver noticed the lights above them, glowing slightly in the fog of the cold, bitter day.

"Nice, isn't it?" Melissa said from beside him.

"Yeah." Oliver said softly, as he watched two people put up the goals on each end of the pitch.

"Well, come on. We need to sit down before the match begins." His hand still in hers, Melissa led him along one of the rows not far from where they stood and had to mutter a few sorries to people as he passed,his attention more on the pitch than in front of him.

A surge of disappointment and the feeling of the cold air hit him again as Melissa dropped his hand. "Our seats." she smiled at him.

Oliver watched as she pulled down the top of the seat and sat down on it. He did the same and pulled out his match programme again, eager to read it. It seemed that Melissa had the same idea as Oliver could see her out of the corner of his eye doing the same thing.

They sat in silence as Oliver read through each page intently. He learned that West Ham often called themselves Irons or Hammers. Their manager was Billy Bonds, their standout players so far this season were Holmes and Morley and they had scraped a close 1-0 win in their last game against a team called Everton. Their opponents today were Sheffield United who were in bad form as of recently. Bonds seemed to think it would be a tough game but reckoned that they had the upper hand and they should win the game if they want to make their way up the table. Oliver was reading over 'Players to Watch Out For' when a voice sounded in the stadium.

"Everyone be standing for our boys in claret and blue, the Irons, West Ham!" a loud cheer erupted around the stadium and Oliver could hear the clattering of plastic on plastic as everyone around them stood up, including Melissa. Oliver decided to put his match programme to one side and stand up too. "And our visitors today, Sheffield United."

"The Sheffield United fans are over there." Melissa leaned close to speak to Oliver over the cheers and pointed towards another part of the stadium where they were wearing mostly red and white. He noticed the strip from the match programme in his hands still.

Oliver was about to ask about when the team was going to come out but was interrupted by the sound of music booming around the stadium. Melissa looked suddenly serious, as did most around them. Melissa unwinded the scarf from around her neck and held it above her head with both hands and began to sing with everyone else in the stadium. Oliver was slightly confused as it seemed to be a song about bubbles, and bubbles began appearing below them on the pitch, but his main emotion was wonder and awe at the connection that all these people seemed to have in the stadium (apart from the Sheffield United fans, of course). His attention wasn't on them long however, as the girl next to him captivated him the most. Oliver had never seen her more raw, more emotional.She almost seemed like she was going to burst into tears when she sang the song proudly. Oliver could feel the passion radiating off her and he was almost sad when she and the rest of the West Ham fans sang the final line.

_"I'm forever blowing bubbles, pretty bubbles in the air. United! United!"_

Oliver had been so transfixed with the fans singing, he didn't notice the two teams walking onto the pitch. They stood in one line and Oliver was thankful he was not on that pitch in the opposing team. He would have been intimidated by the presence and passion from the home fans. He watched as each team shook each other's hands and silently wondered if any of them tried to break each other's hands.

Oliver wasn't sure if it was the anticipation of the game or the cold that made him shiver but he could not deny the burst of excitement as the referee's whistle blew and the match began.

✧

The game was filled with much excitement and Oliver began to understand why Melissa liked the sport so much. The cheers when a West Ham player won the ball back, the calls of protest to the ref when Sheffield United did the same thing and the reoccuring chants of 'Come on Your Irons!'. And not to mention the electrifying cheers when the ball hit the back of the net twice for West Ham, who won the game 2-0.

Oliver had to admit, as he walked alongside Melissa as the exited the stadium, that she was right about it being interesting. Oliver did enjoy watching the differing ways each team attacked and defended. But the thing he enjoyed the most was watching how animated Melissa could get. The whole game, she was shouting, singing and clapping. She was well and truly absorbed by the game, her eyes glistening under the stadium lights; the blue within them more evident and striking than ever. It reminded Oliver of how he feels and acts during Quidditch matches.

"How do you still have a voice after that?" Oliver joked and watched her cheeks redden at his words.

"I wasn't that loud, was I?" she asked, insecurity creeping into her voice.

"A little. But I enjoyed that. I'm the same watching Quidditch."

"I could imagine." Melissa let out a small laugh. "So, what did you make of the goalkeeping?"

"Good. I mean, I think that it isn't as difficult as what I do. They defend one net! I have to defend three hoops whilst flying!" Oliver said, with an offended tone.

"We'll see about that." Melissa winked at him.

✧

After another bus journey, Oliver arrived back at Melissa's house. He watched her as she lit the fire in the lounge with a flick of her wand, the flames turning a green colour.

"Did you do that on purpose?" he asked, nodding to the fire.

"Yeah, I always make it green. Makes me feel like I am back in the Slytherin Common Room." Melissa said as she shrugged off her jacket. "Do you want something to eat before you go back home?"

Oliver did not want to leave yet. He had enjoyed himself today and could not lie, he did want to spend a little bit more time with Melissa in the muggle world, away from all the things which complicated his feelings for her: their Houses, Quidditch, the judgement of their fellow students and teachers.

"Yeah, why not." he finally took off the scarf that he had around his neck and placed it on the sofa. The fire was emitting a heat, and filling the room like a blanket, shielding out the cold.

"I'm just going to order a takeaway. Is that alright?" A takeaway? Confusion ran through Oliver and it must have shown on his face. "There isn't takeaways in the Wizarding World?"

"No." Oliver shook his head.

"Well, that is unfortunate. You call into a restaurant and they deliver you some food to eat at home." Melissa explained and pulled out a slip of paper and a pen. "Do you like noodles?" she asked.

"Yeah, they are okay." Oliver shrugged.

Melissa hummed as she wrote something down. "I'll be right back." and with that she slipped into the kitchen.

Oliver sat down awkwardly on the sofa and stared around the room he was left alone in. He wasn't lying before when he said that it was a nice house; it was with the modern and simple decorations. Above the fireplace on the mantelpiece was a collection of photographs, each of Melissa and who Oliver presumed to be her father. Oliver's mind turned to her father - where was he?

"I ordered you some of my favourite kind of noodles. Trust me, they are amazing." Melissa said fervently as she strolled casually back into the lounge and sat next to Oliver.

"Where is your dad?" Oliver asked, still looking around the room.

"Oh, he is away for a meeting in Manchester. He won't be back until tomorrow." Melissa's excited tone immediately dropped to disappointment and Oliver felt guilty once again for confronting her on something she was uncomfortable with.

"Oh," Oliver said. "When will the food arrive then?"

"In half an hour or something."

Half an hour? Oliver was astounded. Was everything in the Muggle World so slow?

"That gives us time to test your goalkeeping abilities!" Melissa suddenly became excited again, standing up and offering her hand to him. Oliver sighed but took her hand. He might as well get this over and done with.

"Let's see if you are really that good at football, Carter."

✧

"Come on, Wood. Your team would be 12 goals down at this point!" Melissa chastised in a teasing tone to the displeased but determined Oliver standing in front of her. He stood in between the posts of the net in her back garden and Melissa could tell he was growing increasingly frustrated as she had managed to get past him every time.

"Stop cheating then!" Oliver argued back and pointed to a place further back for her to take her penalty.

"I'm not cheating! Just because you fall for my tricks." Melissa placed the ball down onto the ground, a few steps away from where she had been taking them. Little did Oliver know that she had been nice to him and was taking the penalties a good distance away from where they are usually taken.

"Winning by tricking someone is being a bad winner." Oliver huffed, repositioning himself to get ready for her to shoot again.

"Typical Gryffindor. Too chivalrous to accept that sometimes you need to do what you can to win."

"Typical Slytherin. Too obsessed with personal glory to think about the morality of their actions."

Melissa smirked and deliberately stuttered in her run up and sent Oliver the wrong way. When he was down on the floor, she effortlessly kicked the ball in the opposite corner. Oliver hit the floor in frustration, causing Melissa to giggle.

"What was it about your job being more difficult than a footballers?" Melissa gave him a sly smirk.

"You Slytherins and your dirty tricks! I bet you are one of those footballers that knocks every player over and kicks them!"

"No comment. Go on, one more try." Melissa gestured for Oliver to give her the ball back, which he did so hesitantly .

"No dirty tricks this time." Oliver pointed his finger at her warninly.

"No promises." the sly grin was back on Melissa's face.

She took a few steps back before running up to the ball and aimed for the opposite top corner than the one she was looking at to fool Oliver. However, he seemed to have read her intentions as he jumped up and caught the ball.

"What Slytherins never learn is that their dirty tactics always fail them. They always get too arrogant."

✧

After they had ate their food and chatted all about the football game they had watched earlier, Oliver got himself ready to go back home.

"Thanks for inviting me today. It was actually quite a lot of fun." Oliver said as he tied the laces of his shoes.

"Thanks for coming. I enjoyed opening your eyes to the world of football." Melissa smiled back a him as she observed him, leaning on the doorframe.

Oliver stood up once his shoes were tied and walked over to Melissa, unsure of his actions.

"Actually, there is a Quidditch match I am going to on Wednesday. You are free to join me, if you want." Oliver watched her as he spoke. She lifted herself off the doorframe and gazed off in the distance in thought. A few seconds passed before she answered.

"Sure."

Oliver beamed at her response and the excitement already began bubbling inside him. The thought of spending time with her at a Quidditch pitch made him very excited.

"Great!" he exclaimed. "Apparate to my house around midday again on Wednesday."

Melissa nodded and Oliver realised just how close he had gotten to her. He could smell her perfume and it made him suddenly become aware of his recent thoughts of her. The surge of affection towards her when she was shouting and screaming during the football but also the hestitance towards his feelings for her and the fact he needed to concentrate on Gryffindor and Quidditch as much he could until the school year ended. He cleared his throat and took a step back.

"I'll see you then."

✧

Melissa watched the stop where Oliver had just apparated from for a few moments after he left. She walked slowly towards the sofa where he was sitting just moments before and flopped herself onto it. That silly smile had returned on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I became wayy too invested in this chapter. A football game is actually my dream date haha. Anyway, in case any of you are interested, I am a total perfectionist sometimes and I researched who West Ham were playing around Christmas time in 1993/4 and they did actually play Sheffield United on the 3rd of January but it ended 0-0. I just thought that there should have been some goals for Oliver's first game :) oh and I don't actually support West Ham and never went to Upton Park so apologies if any of you have and I got any details about the stadium or the team wrong.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melissa discovers her Quidditch crush and falls off a broomstick.

Melissa sat in the lounge a few days later with her father. He was flicking aimlessly through the TV channels, causing an array of colours to light up the darkened room. Melissa yawned and considered heading up to bed when she realised what she was going to do tomorrow. 

"Dad, is it alright if I spend some time at my friend from school's house tomorrow?" she asked, sleepiness lacing through her voice as she stifled yet another yawn. 

"Oh, you are spending a lot of time with this friend. What's their name?" her Dad was no longer interested in flipping through TV channels and seemed a lot more interested in watching his daughter and her flustered reaction.

"His name is Oliver." she said, picking up a cushion and hugging it to her chest.

"A boy?" he looked at her quizzically, surprise shown by his risen eyebrows.

"Yes. But we are only _friends_." Melissa said firmly.

Her father hummed, almost disbelievingly. "I would have liked to have been around tomorrow to see this _friend_ Oliver but I have another meeting tomorrow. I will be away overnight."

"Again?" Melissa said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, Melissa. My job is very important. You understand this, don't you?" It was almost like he could sense Melissa's frustration towards his constant unavailability due to work. 

Melissa didn't respond. She simply threw the cushion down and stormed out of the lounge and up to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. It had been like that ever since she was little. Whilst her father evidently cared and loved her, it always seemed like he had more time for work than for her. Melissa appreciated that he needed to provide for himself and for her and that his work was his only outlet of not feeling lonely due to the fact she was always at Hogwarts and her mother was well... But she what she didn't understand was how he still seemed obsessed with his work even on the rare occasions she was home and decided to schedule these overnight meetings when she was home, leaving her alone with the eerie sounds of night in a house by herself.

Melissa sighed and buried her head in her pillow, letting the softness take her to another world, making her feel weightless. She closed her eyes and wished she could just drift off into a peaceful sleep. But she couldn't. It was difficult for her to admit, but she was excited for the Quidditch game the next day and spending some more time with Oliver. She was beginning to get worried about how strong her attractions towards him was getting. But she swore not to get too carried away. He was a Gryffindor and she was a Slytherin, after all.

✧

"Oh, I cannot wait to meet this girl!" Oliver's mother chirped enthusiastically. 

Oliver rolled his eyes as he sat polishing his broomstick on the step outside. "She is my friend, Mum. Please do not scare her away." 

"Oh, be careful. You are polishing that bit too much," his mother said as she sat down on the step next to him. Oliver blushed, noticing that he had been too lost in thought and hadn't noticed that he was polishing just one area of his broom. "So, this girl... does she like Quidditch?"

Oliver sniggered. "She says she hates it but I think that she likes it more than she lets on." he said with a faint smile that didn't go unnoticed by his mother who couldn't help but to smile herself at the expression on her son's face.

"Well, I am sure she is lovely. You should probably get ready for her coming around. It is almost midday." his mother gave him an encouraging pat on the back before walking back inside the house. 

Oliver finished polishing his broomstick, looked at it proudly and strolled back inside the house. Once the broomstick was safely back in his room, he give himself a quick look over in the mirror and sorted his hair. He cursed himself for caring so much and tried to remind himself that he wasn't going to let this go too far. But the anticipation of seeing Melissa overwhelmed his hesitation. He took the stairs two at a time and stood in his lounge, patiently waiting. 

Then a_ 'pop!'_ sounded and a very queasy looking Melissa appeared. "Merlin, I do hate apparating after eating." 

Oliver laughed and Melissa's eyes flickered straight to his. He smiled at her and she returned it. 

"Hello, Oliver."

"Hi, Melissa." 

"Is that her?" Oliver's mother came barging into the room and immediately looked at Melissa. "Oh, and isn't she just lovely!" she ran over to Melissa and gave her what looked to be a suffocating hug. Oliver wanted to go and hide in his room. Why was his mother always embarrassing him?

"Melissa, isn't it?" Melissa nodded shyly. Oliver thought she looked adorable. "I'm Oliver's mum, but please call me Fiona."

"Nice to meet you, Fiona." Melissa gave a shy smile. 

"The pleasure is all mine! I have been waiting for ages for Oliver to finally bring home a girl. I was beginning to get worried he was going to end up marrying a broomstick!" 

Melissa giggled at this. "I have worried about that too." 

"Right, that is enough. Come on, Melissa. We need to get going." Oliver interjected rushing over to grab Melissa's hand and drag her away from his mother. 

"Sorry about her. She doesn't understand limits sometimes." Oliver muttered as they walked down the steps outside.

"I thought she was nice." Melissa said as she almost slipped on the steps.

"You are so clumsy!" Oliver laughed as she used him to steady herself.

"Shut up, Wood." she said humourlessly, but Oliver could see a hint of a smile on her face. 

"Bad news, Carter. You are going to have to apparate again." Oliver stopped walking and smirked knowingly at her as she huffed. 

"If I throw up on you, it is your own fault."

✧ 

Melissa didn't end up throwing up, but did feel incredibly nauseous as she felt her feet make contact with solid ground again. She looked down at her feet and saw grass surrounding her feet. She realised she was still holding onto Oliver and hesitantly let go of him but regretted it when she felt like she was swaying still. 

"I can't believe that I just apparated to go to a Quidditch game. You're lucky I like you, Wood." Melissa said as she held her head for a moment, recomposing herself.

"Do you need some water?" Oliver asked her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"No, I'll be fine in a minute." she shook her head and took a few breaths and began to slowly feel better again.

Finally, she was able to see what was in front of her. This Quidditch stadium wasn't anything like the one at Hogwarts. No, this one was bigger. And it took isolated in the middle of a field, making it look more impressive.She looked to Oliver who was staring at it proudly.

"Is this Puddlemere United's stadium?" she asked him.

"Yes it is. The home of the best Quidditch team in the country." Oliver smiled proudly as he spoke. He then turned to her and subconsciously found her hand and intertwined it with his. Melissa welcomed this and closed her hand around his. This was becoming a common and routine thing for them. Melissa would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the feeling of his hand in hers. 

Once they were inside the stadium and had found their seats, Melissa became wary of just how high up they were. She peered over the barrier and swallowed deeply. Quidditch stadiums were definitely higher than football stadiums and Melissa was not a big fan of heights. In contrast, Oliver seemed completely fine. He was eagerly peering over the barrier, waiting to get a look of the players. 

"Who are you playing?" Melissa asked, trying to ignore the height they were at.

"Holyhead Harpies. They are an all witch team." Oliver informed her, turning around to face her.

"Do you fancy your chances against them?" 

"Yes. We have a really good seeker, Kody Glazer. He will no doubt catch the Snitch. We just need to hope that we don't concede too many goals." 

Melissa watched Oliver as he spoke and observed just how into it and animated he was about the sport and his team. Whilst she wished to tease him at that moment, she also couldn't help but admire him and give him an encouraging smile.

"You'll need these, by the way." Oliver fished around in his bag for a few moments and pulled out what looked to Melissa to be like binoculars. 

"What are they?" Melissa asked as she inspected them in her hands.

"Omnioculars. So you can watch the players close up. You can aslo rewind, and pause whenever you want to." 

Melissa presumed that she was meant to have been watching the Omniculars to see what Oliver was showing her but she couldn't remove her eyes from his face as he leaned closer to her. She nodded vacantly and played about with the Omnioculars to try and figure them out herself. 

"Here comes the teams!" Oliver exclaimed next to her causing her to remove the Omnioculars from her face and watched the spectacle as the two teams flew out, their robes flying out from behind them. A roar of applause filled the stadium and Melissa couldn't help herself but to clap as she watched the players do a quick lap around the stadium. 

✧ 

Melissa became obsessed with her Omnioculars as the game went on. She was constantly pausing and rewinding as one player in particular caught her attention. 

"Melissa, you are missing a lot of the action. You don't need to use them all the time." Oliver said next to her in an amused tone.

"I can't keep my eyes off that player with number 5 on his back, what's his name? Smith?" Melissa said, zooming in further on the player's back to try and see his name.

"Joe Smith." Oliver answered and Melissa put down her Omnioculars and smiled dreamily at Oliver.

"Joe Smith. He is quite attractive. And quite good at Quidditch too." she tried to use her Omnioculars again to watch him some more but Oliver had snatched them out of her hands. "Hey!" she exclaimed, trying to reach for them again but failing.

"You are not using these just to follow your crush around the pitch." Oliver said seriously, hiding the Omnioculars behind his back. Melissa pouted and crossed her arms across her chest but an idea ticked in her head. She had obviously found something that irks Oliver.

"What age is he?" she asked with a smirk as she watched one of the Holyhead Harpies sweep by in a flash. 

"21." Oliver replied flatly, no longer looking at her and instead on the pitch instead.

"Ohh that is in my age range. Do you reckon you could set me up with him if you get in the Puddlemere United team?" 

Oliver looked agitated and Melissa smirked. It had been a while since she had annoyed him to this extent. She was about to make another remark when cheers erupted as Puddlemere United scored a goal and the anounder sounded again. 

_"60-20 to Puddlemere United. Scored by Joe Smith." _

Melissa cheered and clapped, jumping up and down. She even joined in the "Smith! Smith!" chants around the stadium. For some reason, Oliver was not celebrating this goal like the others. and Melissa began to feel bad. She turned to him and nudged him playfully.

"I'm just joking around with you. I don't want to date a Quidditch player, although Melissa Smith does have a ring to it." 

Oliver scoffed at her comment and finally looked at her again, passing back the Omnioculars to her. "I hope you don't go around doing this with the Quidditch players at school."

"Nah, although Esther and I both agreed that Cedric Diggory is the most attractive player at Hogwarts." Melissa smirked slyly and began to use the Omnicular again.

"Oh, really? I heard that the Gryffindor Captain is better looking." 

Melissa nearly choked on air as she processed his words. Was Oliver Wood really joking about this with her? She kept her Omniculars over her face to conceal her blush. 

"Funny joke, Wood." was all she managed to come back with. 

✧ 

The atmosphere was positively electric as the game ended. Oliver was elated with the result of the Puddlemere United win and was feeling smug knowing that he was right about Kody Glazer catching the Snitch at the right time, securing the win. 

He looked to Melissa alongside him who was grinning at the picture she had got of Joe Smith at the Puddlemere United shop. Oliver rolled his eyes and decided to throw his arm around her shoulders to get her attention. 

"So, what did you think?" he asked her as she looked up at him in surprise.

"It was good. A lot better than I thought it would be. Although, it wasn't as loud or as raw as a football game, I must admit. But that might just be my attachment." she answered as he saw her gingerly lean into him as they walked by a crowd of people. Oliver decided to remove his arm from around her shoulder and hold her hand instead. 

"Definitely your attachment. But I am glad you enjoyed it. I think I may slowly be converting you, you know." he smirked smugly at her.

"Maybe, Wood. But remember, the more you get me into Quidditch, the more I will want Slytherin to beat Gryffindor in the final game." she smirked back at him.

"That is fine. Just know you are only increasing the disappointment you will inevitably feel when we beat you." teased Oliver as they came to a stop at a more secluded place away from the crowds. "Ready to apparate?" he offered his arm to her. 

Melissa bregrudgidly took his arm. "Just get this over with."

Oliver concreted on apparating and felt his body become disorientated as they moved from one place to another. Once they were back at his house, Oliver looked at Melissa cautiously, worried that she would throw up any moment. She stumbled a little and took a few moments of heavy breathing to control herself but eventually smiled at Oliver to tell him she was okay. 

"You're back!" Fiona Wood shouted from the kitchen and soon enough her head was popping out the kitchen door. "Dinner won't be long. You are staying for dinner, Melissa?" Fiona looked expectedly at Melissa.

"Uh, I wouldn't want to intrude..." Melissa said, unsurely. Oliver's heart dropped. He wanted her to stay for a little longer.

"Oh, nonsense! We'd love to have you stay for dinner, wouldn't we Oliver?" 

Oliver's heart rate increased as his mother addressed him and looked at him knowingly. "Yes." Oliver said in the most casual tone he could muster. It ended up sounding high pitched and Oliver became embarrassed, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Then, I'd love to stay." Melissa smiled sweetly at Fiona and Oliver watched closely as his mother beamed.

"Lovely!" she said. "Now, if you want to look at Oliver's baby pictures whilst you wait-"

"No!" Oliver firmly protested, taking a hold of Melissa's hand again. "I have a better idea."

✧ 

Oliver watched Melissa in amusement as she stared at the broomstick in her hand like it was an alien object. She glanced worryingly back at Oliver who only grinned at her.

"Come on now, Carter. Flying is easy." Oliver said as he climbed onto his broomstick and hovered above the ground. 

Oliver had to suppress a laugh at the horrified expression on her face. He bet that she was regretting her teasing the other day when they played football in her garden. 

"What if I fall off?" Melissa shouted up at him, her hair moving with the small winds.

"You won't fall off." Oliver tried to reassure her but wasn't so certain himself. She _was_ incredibly clumsy. 

"If I break any bone in my body I swear I will end you, Oliver Wood." 

Oliver watched closely as she mounted her broom slowly and cautiously. She began to levitate a little, then she squealed and brought herself back on the ground. "I can't do it!" 

"Yes you can! Just be more certain of yourself," Melissa looked up at him disbelievingly as he spoke. "Right, I will just tell Joe Smith when I meet him that there is this crazy girl named Melissa Carter that is obsessed with him and she can't even ride a broomstick."

Melissa stared at him dangerously before levitating again. Once she was on the same level as Oliver, she stopped and dangled her legs a little. 

"Don't do that," Oliver warned. "You'll lose your balance."

"But I feel uncomfortable sitting like that." Melissa said as she put her feet back where they were originally. 

"You'll get used to it. Now follow me." Oliver began to move again and looked behind him to see a very anxious Melissa following him. He gave her an encouraging smile before picking up the pace a little, deciding to head towards one of his favourite spots near the mountains.

"Oliver!" he heard Melissa shout from behind him. "You are going too fast!"

Oliver sighed and slowed down a little, allowing for her to catch up. She wasn't lying when she said that she really wasn't a fan of flying. 

It took longer than usual for Oliver to reach the clearing perched atop a little hill not far from his house with Melissa slowly trailing behind him. Oliver landed effortlessly and just in time to see Melissa jump from her broomstick from a few feet from the ground. She landed with a thump onto the ground.

"For Merlin's sake!" Oliver cursed as he approached her and leaned down next to her. He looked her over for any sign of immediate damage but could not find any. "Are you alight?" he asked her, just in case.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little sore." Melissa said with a slight wince as she sat up and dusted off her clothes.

"You can be an idiot sometimes. Why would you ever do that?" Oliver quizzed her, taking her arm to inspect the scratches she accumulated when she landed next to a thorny bush. Thankfully, she was not bleeding.

"I thought I was going to crash onto the ground." Melissa said sheepishly, looking at her own arm once Oliver was done inspecting it.

"So you decided to jump off?" said Oliver with incredulity. 

"Yes." 

Oliver sighed and sat down next to her, taking in the view. The hill wasn't very high up, but it was high enough to see the forest below. He could feel Melissa move next to him to lean back onto her elbows and look up at the sky as the sun was beginning to set.

"I suppose one perk of flying is that you can see some nice views." he heard her say.

"Yes. That is one perk. There are many more." Oliver mimicked her position, leaning back on his elbows and gazing at the setting sun. 

"Hey, Oliver?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you really think I belong in Slytherin?" 

Oliver was taken aback by this question, not expecting it in the slightest. He took a moment to ponder over it before responding.

"I mean, yeah? The hat must have placed you there for a reason. You do tick a lot of the boxes for being a Slytherin but I will be honest, I do see you differently to the other Slytherins. You are, how do I put this? More approachable?" 

Melissa laughed and turned her head to him. "That could just be because you know me. Did you think I was approachable before we starting talking?" 

Oliver thought about this and knew the answer straight away. 

"No. I fact, I was kinda intimidated by you. You _did_ basically crush me with my own desk that time in potions in the beginning of the year when you got out of your seat." Oliver smirked humously at the memory, but he did not find it funny at the time. At the time, he felt annoyed and frustrated at the girl he did not yet know the name of. Little did he know he would be watching the sunset with her a few months later.

"Well you were annoying me with your stupid mutterings about Quidditch plans, You really weren't discret. You were lucky it was me sitting there and not Flint." 

"Yes, lucky indeed," Oliver turned to her and chuckled as he saw a stand of grass in her windswept hair, "You have grass in your hair by the way."

Melissa flushed a shade of pink as she reached for her hair and completely missed the place where the grass was. 

"I'll get it." Oliver said as he leaned forward and gently removed the piece of grass from her hair. 

His hand lingered on her lower head as he met her gaze. Oliver noticed how her skin glowed from the sun setting behind them. And in that moment, there was nothing but her. No Quidditch, no Hogwarts Houses, no broomsticks, no doubts about his feelings for her. No. Nothing crossed his mind but the girl looking back at him with a doe-eyed expression that only drew him closer. It was almost exactly like the Christmas Party where Oliver wanted nothing more than to close the gap between them then Percy had to get in the way. But there was no Percy to interrupt this time. There was nothing to interrupt this moment between them. Nothing but the distant sound of birds singing in the trees of the forest below. Oliver leaned forwards and felt her do the same until there was nothing between them. 

He took a deep breath before placing his lips on hers and waited a moment to see how she was going to respond. It didn't take long for her to respond by kissing him softly and Oliver smiled into the kiss as he kissed her back.

Whilst Oliver had been pushing his feelings for her back for a while now, no part of him could deny that it felt so right to be kissing Melissa Carter. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)))


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An important conversation takes place.

Melissa had never pictured her first kiss being atop of a hill during a sunset but here she was. Kissing Oliver Wood and very much enjoying it. That was until she tried to move her arm that was getting cramped under her weight and ended up head butting Oliver in the process.

"Opps, I'm sorry." she said sheepishly, feeling very hot all of a sudden and sitting up straight.

"You are _so_ clumsy." Oliver looked at her, amused. "But it's adorable so don't worry about it."

"It's adorable until I end up falling flat on my face one day."

"Shh, you just ruined the moment." Oliver laughed at her, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear before leaning in again.

Melissa smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around Oliver's neck. She could now understand why people found this so addicting. The feeling of his lips against hers was absolute bliss. What took them so long to do this?

Melissa giggled slightly as Oliver's hand moved from her head and down her neck, tickling her. Oliver pulled away and looked at her strangely.

"You're ticklish?" he asked with a raised brow.

"Don't be getting any ideas, Wood." Melissa pointed at him sternly.

Oliver shrugged. "Just useful information is all."

"We should probably head back. Your mother said that dinner was nearly ready." Melissa said, dusting off her jeans.

"Yeah, probably." Oliver looked disappointed but got up off the ground and offered his hand to help Melissa up. Melissa gratefully accepted it and winced as she got to her feet and a shot of pain surged through her ankle but it quickly subsided.

Oliver must have noticed her discomfort as he looked her over skeptically before staring at her questionably. "I'm fine." she said.

"You can fly with me this time. I don't trust you to fly on your own anymore. Plus, you fly so slowly you may as well be walking." Oliver said as he picked up his broomstick.

"I told you I wasn't very good at flying." Melissa said walking over towards him gingerly.

"I underestimated just how true that was," Oliver smirked but his tone soon turned serious. "Now, this time you hold onto me and do not let your feet dangle and do not jump off the broomstick. Get off when I get off."

"Understood, Captain Ollie." Melissa grinned mischievously at him.

Oliver narrowed his eyes at her. "I told you not to call me that."

"There is no fun in that."

Melissa watched as Oliver mounted his broom. He looked at her expectedly.

"Hop on." he said.

She looked towards the other broomstick sitting a bit further away from where they were at. "What about the other broomstick?" she asked.

"There is a thing called the Summoning Charm, Carter."

"Oh. Yes, of course."

Melissa gingerly stepped one leg over the broomstick that Oliver was on and stood still for a moment.

"Hold on, I don't bite." Oliver said with a smirk over his shoulder. Melissa rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around his middle. "Hold on tighter. Knowing you, you will fall off."

"Alright, no need to be so eager." Melissa tightened her grip on him and moved closer so her body was basically against his. Oliver turned around to look at her only for Melissa to give him her best cheesy grin.

"You will be the death of me, Melissa Carter." Oliver said before kicking up off the ground.

Melissa screamed a little as they lifted off the ground but controlled herself as she realised how close she was to Oliver and how piercing her scream must have been in his ear.

Melissa contained her screams and yells as she gripped tighter onto Oliver. She had never flown so fast in her life or had ever been this high. She didn't dare look down. Those Gryffindors, she thought, why did they have to be so daring?

Her thoughts were interrupted as Oliver abruptly decided to plunge downwards. This time, Melissa could not contain her screams.

"Oliver!" she shouted in his ear, so that she was sure he could hear the disapproval in her voice.

"You were being quiet. I had to make sure you didn't pass out." she felt him chuckle under the arms she has wrapped around him.

"We are going to land now. You can move your legs when I say to." Oliver shouted over his shoulder to her.

"Okay." she said softly, her nerves increasing as each moment passed.

"Now." Oliver ordered as they neared the floor. Melissa released her legs and felt her feet finally hit solid ground again. She sighed in relief as Oliver looked at her over his shoulder. "See? It isn't that difficult."

Melissa didn't respond. Instead, she used her hand to flatten Oliver's windswept hair. Oliver looked at her in surprise and confusion.

"What are you doing?" he asked, watching her intently.

"Sorting your hair. It was a mess." Melissa said simply, removing her hand from his hair.

"You should see your own hair, then." Oliver snickered, removing the hair that was covering her face. Melissa felt her cheeks redden and felt her hair. It was all knotted and was falling out of the ponytail she had it in earlier that day.

"Still beautiful, though." Oliver whispered and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

Melissa's insides fluttered. He just called her beautiful and kissed her. Her knees felt like someone had cast a jelly legs curse on them. For once, she had no witty comeback.

Oliver stepped backed and smiled sincerely at her.

"Accio broomstick." Oliver said and held out his hand. A few moments passed before the broomstick came flying towards him. He caught it and walked over to the broom shed, leaving Melissa alone in her thoughts for the first time since they had kissed.

She sighed and ran a hand through her knotted hair, taking out the hair band that had failed to kept her hair in check. Oliver Wood had kissed her. She placed her hands to her lips and felt her heart rate increase. She knew she liked him before but now she felt intoxicated by him. She felt a sudden urge to run up to him and kiss him again. She couldn't suppress her feelings any longer. She wanted Oliver Wood.

So that is what she did. When he exited the broom shed she ran across towards him and threw her arms around him. Oliver stumbled back, obviously not expecting her sudden appearance. He composed himself in a heart beat and placed his hands on her waist.

"Woah." he laughed lightly at her.

"I like you." was all she said. She couldn't confess all her feelings towards him without sounding like a madwoman.

Oliver looked at her so for second. Almost as if searching her face for any sign of deceit. He then smiled at her and moved one of his hands to her face.

"I like you too."

Melissa beamed and propped herself onto her tiptoes before placing her lips on his. This kiss was deeper and more passionate than the one on the hill before. Oliver cupped one side of her face with his hand gently rubbing her cheek whilst the other hand squeezed her waist softly. Melissa smiled into the kiss and ran her hands through his hair at the back of his head.

Finally, they had to pull away for breath. Melissa felt the cold air hit her face as Oliver removed his hand from her face and placed his head onto hers. Instead, he intertwined it his hand with hers and gave it a soft squeeze. Melissa smiled at the familiar touch and action.

"So, who is the most attractive Quidditch player at Hogwarts then?" Oliver looked at her with a smug smirk.

"Hmm, let me think about that one." Melissa pretended to ponder in thought, looking off into the distance. "I heard that the Gryffindor Captain thinks himself something but personally I prefer-"

"Oliver? Melissa? Dinner is ready!"

The sound of Fiona's voice made Melissa and Oliver break apart and look at each other sheepishly. With their hands still intertwined, they strolled back toward the house and inside to find Fiona fussing over setting the table and a middle aged man sitting at the table, smiling at them both.

"This must be Melissa." he said, peering over the spectacles hanging on his nose and standing up to offer his hand for her to shake.

"Nice to meet you, Mr Wood." Melissa said politely as she shook his hand.

"Oh, there is no need for such formalities. Call me Paul."

"Everyone take a seat!" Fiona called from behind them as she placed a final plate onto the table. It seemed that Fiona had been busy making a good amount of food as the table was nearly filled with plates of it.

Melissa took the seat next to Oliver and directly across from Fiona who was smiling warmly at her.

"So, what were you two up to?" she asked, looking between Melissa and Oliver.

Melissa turned to Oliver with wide eyes. He just casually smiled and scooped some mashed potatoes onto his plate.

"Just went out flying for a bit. Discovered that Melissa here is more clumsy than I thought." Oliver sent her a smirk. Melissa began to feel incredibly embarrassed.

"You didn't hurt yourself did you?" Fiona asked Melissa, concern laced through her voice.

"Oh no. I'm fine." Melissa smiled gratefully at her and returned her attention back to the sausage casserole on her plate.

"We are so glad to finally meet you, Melissa. Oliver has told us so much about you recently." Fiona casually said as she made sure her husband's plate was filled with food.

"Oh, has he?" It was Melissa's turn to smirk at Oliver, who was trying his best not to look at her.

"Yes," Fiona nodded. "Don't worry. They were all nice things."

"Mum." Oliver said in a warning tone. Melissa held back her sniggers as she took a sip of water.

"So Melissa," Paul began and Melissa turned to him. "What Quidditch team do you support?"

Melissa bit her lip. "I don't really follow Quidditch. Although I did very much enjoy watching Puddlemere United today."

Melissa regretted the words as she spoke them as she could see Oliver's triumphant smile out the corner of her eye. Fiona also looked pleased but Paul not so much.

"Don't let Oliver brainwash you with all that Puddlemere United nonsense. Montrose Magpies are the way to go." Paul said causing Oliver to scoff.

"Stop trying to corrupt my girlfriend with your wrong Quidditch opinions." Oliver said jovially but froze when he realised what he had said.

Melissa nearly choked on the carrot she was eating. His girlfriend? Was that what she was now? She looked at him quizzically, his expression sheepish.

"I knew it!" Fiona exclaimed, a wide smile on her face.

Oliver cleared his throat and took a large gulp of water. Melissa smiled kindly at Fiona and decided to change the subject.

"Oliver told me that you work at Which Broomstick?"

"Yes," Fiona said. "I couldn't ask for a better job. Do you have any idea what you want to do when you leave school?"

"I'm not too sure," Melissa answered truthfully. "Maybe something at the Ministry."

Paul nodded approvingly. "I don't think that will be so difficult for you. Oliver said that you are the smartest student in your year. Any idea what Department you would like to work in?"

"I'm still uncertain but maybe the Department of International Magical Cooperation." Melissa said, stifling the blush that she felt creeping onto her face.

"Well I know of a few people who work there so if you ever need anything, let me know." Paul said.

"I will. Thanks." Melissa nodded.

"So, do you think that Gryffindor can finally win the Quidditch cup this year?" Fiona asked.

Melissa gave Oliver a smirk before answering. "No. I think Slytherin will stop them."

Oliver scoffed. "Melissa is a Slytherin." he told his confused parents.

Fiona and Paul's faces were immediately covered with shock and Melissa began to feel uncomfortable. She poked at the food on her plate mindlessly.

"Oh, sorry. We are just surprised. You never really seemed like a Slytherin." Fiona said with an apologetic smile as she had obviously noticed Melissa's uneasiness.

Ouch, Melissa thought. There it was again. Everyone was always so shocked at her being a Slytherin.

"Yes, we know that not every Slytherin is evil." Paul added.

But that didn't help Melissa at all. She felt oddly annoyed. She was defensive about her House and how people often perceived them the wrong way. Oliver must have sensed her heightened emotions as he lightly bumped his leg against hers. She gave him a weak smile.

"I am proud to be a Slytherin," she finally said. "We are not what people think we are."

Paul observed her for a moment, his eyes narrowing in concentration. "Sorry to ask, but what is your surname again?"

"Carter." Melissa replied, watching his reaction closely. He was obviously thinking deeply about her name.

"And your mothers?" Paul asked.

Melissa finally understood what he was doing. He was trying to find out who her family was and which Pureblood Slytherin family she belonged to.

"I have no idea. She died not long after I was born. She was a muggle though. That much I am sure of."

"I'm so sorry about your mother." Fiona said sincerely.

Melissa nodded in appreciation and crossed her clutry on her plate as she finished eating. "Thank you. That was lovely." she smiled at Fiona.

"You're very welcome, dear." Fiona said kindly.

Oliver turned to Melissa. "Can I talk to you before you go?" he asked her.

"Of course." Melissa replied.

"On you go then." Fiona said to them with a knowing look.

✧

Oliver pushed his bedroom door open and immediately jumped into an apology as soon as Melissa followed him in and shut the door behind her.

"I'm so sorry about my parents. They can be so embarrassing. They shouldn't have pressed you so much about your family."

"It's fine, Oliver." Melissa gave him a weak smile.

"And I am sorry about springing that whole girlfriend thing onto you. It just slipped out. I totally understand if you don't want to be my girlfriend." Oliver said as he sat down on the edge of his bed.

Melissa stood at the door for a while before walking over and sitting down next to him. She grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers, placing their joint hands on her lap.

"I apparated three times today for you despite the fact that I hate it, I let you take me to a Quidditch game, I let you kiss me, I admitted I liked you and basically threw myself at you and you think I wouldn't want to be your girlfriend?" Melissa said, smiling.

Oliver looked at their enclosed hands on her lap and then looked up at her face. "I just don't want to be another Flint." he smirked at her.

"You are not. I reciprocate your feelings. And I would never let myself be alone in a room like this with Flint."

"So you're my girlfriend now?" Oliver looked up at her with a hopeful glint in his eyes.

"If you think you can cope with me then yes. I will happily be your girlfriend."

A smile tugged at Oliver's lips as he pulled Melissa closer, wrapping his arms around her waist. 

"So, who do you prefer?" Oliver mumbled into her hair.

Melissa looked to him, confused. "Huh?"

"Before dinner you were about to say that you prefer someone to me. Who is it?" 

Melissa giggled and turned towards him with a smirk. "You jealous?"

"Pfft, no! It was obviously just one of your snide comments." 

"Then what would you do if I said it was Marcus Flint?" Melissa tried to keep her face serious but her lip was twitching upwards slightly.

"Then I would definitely know it was one of your snide comments." 

Melissa let out a laugh as Oliver pulled her backwards onto the bed beside him. They lay there as a few moments passed, their hands intertwined. The room was silent a part from the occasional movements from downstairs or the soft sounds of Oliver breathing next to her but the silence was soon punctuated by the sound of Oliver's low voice in her ear.

"Your hands are soft."

Melissa allowed herself to smile slightly. "And yours are rough."

She heard Oliver let out a small laugh. "That is because I am a serious Quidditch player."

Melissa arched an eyebrow and turned up to look at him, a smug expression already on his face. "Somehow, serious is an understatement." 

Oliver chuckled at her statement as she rolled fully onto her side and was about to lean in to kiss him again when a voice made her halt in her movements.

"Oliver? Is Melissa still up there? Her jacket and scarf are down here." Fiona's voice rang.

"I think that is a sign. I better get going then." Melissa said as she sat up and straightened out her clothes. Oliver followed her actions and sat up, turning to the side so his legs dangled over the edge.

"Yeah, your dad is probably wondering where you are." he said.

Melissa scoffed. "Ha! I could be gone all night and my father would never know. He's away at another meeting tonight," Melissa stood up and looked at Oliver, expecting him to do the same but he just stared at her and she could see the sympathy on his face. "Don't pity me. I am used to it by now." Melissa said with a shrug.

"Will you be alright?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm very experienced in sleeping in a house by myself." 

Oliver didn't look convinced but stood up anyway. He walked over to her and run his fingers along her arm. 

"You are always welcome here if you ever feel uncomfortable." he said, softly.

"I will keep that in mind. Now, we better hurry down stairs before your parents think that you have apparated too." 

✧

Oliver didn't like the idea of leaving Melissa on her own overnight. Especially not after the night they had shared. He wanted her to stay with him, but he knew it was too soon to push her into something like that. And he knew that she was perfectly capable of handling herself, perhaps too capable. 

He watched from the kitchen door as she smiled with his parents, her coat and scarf in her hands. He was glad the slight tension from earlier had simmered. He knew that his parents were skeptical of Slytherins due to their experiences at school and time after, and Oliver had to admit he was the same before he met her. Yes, she was a Slytherin, a part of the House that he so often clenched his fists at the sound of their name but she was more than just a Slytherin. She was kind and comforting once you got past the exterior she has around her. Oliver often doubted that she could ever bring herself to do something completely evil. It made him realise that perhaps not all Slytherins were destined to be evil and Death Eaters. Even if he still wanted to wipe their stupid sly smirks off of their faces when he lifted the Quidditch Cup after showing them how Quidditch should be played...

Oliver was too caught up in his emotions and thoughts to notice that the girl who had been the centre-point of his thoughts was standing right in front of him, now clad in her scarf and jacket.

"I'll see you at school in a few days." she said, looking at him warily.

"Yeah," Oliver wanted to kiss her again. It had only been a few moments since they last kissed but he was slowly becoming addicted to it. It was the only feeling that has ever came close to what he feels when he wins a Quidditch match. But they were under the watchful eyes of his parents, so he simply pulled her in for a hug. "See you soon." he whispered in her ear. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melissa and Oliver adjust to being a couple in the chaos of Hogwarts

The familiar sound of the sweets trolley being pushed along the corridor of the train pulled Melissa's attention from her book. She looked up to see the trolley lady standing at their compartment door.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked the four girls inside the compartment.

Melissa put her book to the side and stood up to see what would catch her eye. Nothing was really standing out to her so she just went for her normal.

"A couple of Chocolate Frogs, please." she said with a kind smile to the trolley lady.

"Of course, dear."

Melissa exchanged the money for the Chocolate Frogs and was just about to slip back inside her compartment when she saw a familiar figure walking towards her. She gave a wide smile and a wave.

"Hey there, Oliver."

"Hey, Melissa. You good?"

"I'm great. Fancy a Chocolate Frog?" Melissa offered one of her Chocolate Frogs to him.

"I'm alright thanks. Strict Quidditch diet remember?" Oliver smirked at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Right, I forgot about that. It is almost as if I haven't seen you eat chocolate cake before."

"Shh! They do not need to know about that," he nudged her shoulder playfully. "Anyway, I was wondering if I could speak to you for a minute?" Oliver glanced over her shoulder to the three girls still in the compartment.

Melissa could see that they were all watching the interaction between her and Oliver closely. Even Rose had taken her nose out of her book to observe them. Melissa sighed and turned back to Oliver.

"Of course."

Melissa followed Oliver along the empty train corridor until he pulled her into an empty compartment further along the train. Melissa arched a brow at him quizzically.

"You know, the last time I was dragged into a train compartment like this it was Flint telling me how you are only spending time with me to get to him and to sabotage his Quidditch plans."

"And what if I am?" Oliver raised an amused brow.

"Then I will curse your broom so that you can never get on it again."

"You would never!"

"Don't underestimate how I get back at people who betray my trust, Wood."

Oliver raised his hands up in defence. "I get it, I get it. I would never."

"Good." Melissa said with a sly grin then walked towards Oliver who had lowered his hands ."So, why did you drag me in here, then?"

"Can't I just want to see my girlfriend?" he asked, taking a hold of her arm and pulling her closer in one swift movement.

"Of course. But you said you wanted to speak to me." Melissa looked up at him and poked his cheek with her free hand.

"We are speaking, are we not?"

Oliver slowly moved his face closer to hers and she leaned towards him. She tried to contain herself from just smashing her lips against his, their close proximity reminding her of the intoxicating way his lips feel on hers. Instead, she let the moment progress slowly. Her eyes flickered up to his, their gaze meeting for a moment before she looked back down at his lips and how hers hovered dangerously near.

She then closed the gap between them. This kiss was a lot more intense than the kisses they shared before. Melissa's arms instantly wound themselves around his neck as he pulled her closer by her waist, their bodies pressed against each other as their lips connected in a combination of desire and longing.

"I missed you." Oliver whispered in her ear as he pulled away and left a short kiss underneath her earlobe.

"It was only a few days!" Melissa gave a half-hearted laugh, her breath still not returned to her from the kiss they had just shared.

Oliver shrugged. "Still. I missed you. But back to the real reason I need to speak to you... you left your picture of Smith at mine and my mum wonders if you want it signed. Her work is doing an interview thing with a few of the Puddlemere United players."

"Yes, that would be wonderful!" Melissa removed her arms from around his neck and beamed at him.

"I'll let my mother know." Oliver looked at her, amused. However. his amused look didn't last long.

"You will still tell him about me, right?" she asked, batting her eyelashes.

"Tell him what? That my girlfriend has a massive crush on him?" Oliver scoffed.

"Yes. That would be good boyfriend behavior if you ask me."

Oliver shook his head at her words. "I think that is the exact opposite of good boyfriend behaviour."

"I'm just kidding. You are more attractive than him anyway." Melissa shrugged and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Really?" Oliver tried to play it cool, but his cheeks and neck were turning a shade of pink.

"I suppose so." Melissa said as she moved to lean in to kiss him again but froze when she heard muffled voices nearby.

Both Melissa and Oliver swiftly turned their necks to look to see who was passing by and were met by the sight of no one but Marcus Flint and Graham Montague casually strolling the train corridor. Flint halted when he caught sight of Melissa and Oliver but after a quick glare, continued walking.

"Well, that is going to make my next interaction with Flint more fun than usual." Melissa said humously.

"I should probably head back now before they start getting suspicious." Oliver said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah, me too. See you around, Captain Ollie."

"I said to _stop_ calling me that, Carter."  
  
  


Once Melissa had finally returned to her compartment with her three friends inside, she tried to act as if nothing happened. She silently strolled over to her seat and picked up her book again, hiding her blushed face from the suspecting gazes of her friends.

"What was that all about?" Kelsey asked, an accusing tint to her tone that made Melissa feel a surge of annoyance ripple through her.

"Oh nothing. We just talked." Melissa still didn't look up from her book.

"Just talked?" Esther added, but her tone was far more playful and teasing than Kelsey's was.

"Uh huh." Melissa nodded and bit her lip to stop that stupid smile from etching its way onto her face.

"Have you got something you would like to tell us, Melissa?" Esther asked, leaning over to snatch the book out of Melissa's hands.

"Hey!" she complained, pouting.

"Spill the beans, Melissa." Esther said as she hid the book behind her back and smirked.

Melissa sighed and leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest. She knew that her friends were watching her closely.

"What happens between Oliver and I stays between Oliver and I."

"You've just made it sound worse." Rose giggled from behind her book. Melissa groaned and looked up at the train ceiling.

"Yeah, just admit you two are together and this conversation can move on." Esther sniggered from beside her best friend.

"Fine. We are together. Can you just give me my book back please so I can forget this conversation ever happened?"

✧

Melissa had managed to dodge any further questions about Oliver Wood from her friends that night. And even through breakfast the next day they remained seemingly distracted from the subject as Melissa dipped her toast into her poached egg.

"I got the nicest opal necklace for my Christmas." Kelsey gushed as she spread some butter onto her toast.

"Ohh, when can we see it?" Rose asked in a quiet voice.

"Soon. I was saving it until our final feast."

Melissa soon became distracted from their conversation however as she caught Oliver's eye from across the hall. She gave him a small smile which he returned before Percy apparently spoke to him. Their little interaction did not go unnoticed by Esther.

"Aww you two are so cute!" she shook her friend's shoulders, much to Melissa's distaste.

"Who is cute?" Flint interrupted, wedging himself between Esther and Melissa.

"Melissa and Oliver." Esther said before Melissa could speak. Melissa shot her friend a death glare as a blush rose to her cheeks.

Flint blinked a few times before looking between Melissa next to him and Oliver across the hall who seemed to be oblivious to the ordeal happening at the Slytherin table.

"You aren't-"

"Just tell me why you are here, Flint." Melissa interrupted with a stern voice.

"Oh, yeah. I just wanted to ask how your Christmas break was?"

"My Christmas break was great, actually. How about yours, Kelsey?" Melissa tried to turn Flint's attention towards Kelsey who was looking as annoyed as ever by Flint's presence by Melissa's side.

Kelsey piped up and began to tell Flint all about her Christmas break in Paris but Flint did not look the least bit interested. Melissa sighed at his lack of interest in her friend but noticed a change in Flint's expression as he evidently noticed something that did not suit him.

Melissa followed his gaze and recognised what it was immediately. Oliver was making his way over to her and returning Flint's glares. Melissa rolled her eyes at the two of them.

"Melissa, you want to start walking to potions?" Oliver asked as he finally reached where she sat. 

It seemed like the whole Slytherin table was looking at him strangely but he didn't seem to care. He seemed more bothered by Flint close by, sending him daggers.

"Yeah, sure." Melissa said, reaching down to get her bag from under the table.

Once she was out her seat she followed Oliver out of the hall, ignoring the judging and quizzical stares from her fellow Slytherins.

"So what did Flint want?" Oliver asked as they turned to make their way down into the dungeons.

"Just the usual." Melissa shrugged, pulling her bag further up her arm.

"He sits _awfully_ close to you." Oliver said.

"Yeah, he always does. It is annoying," Melissa stopped walking and turned to face Oliver who had also stopped and was looking at her strangely. "Do you mind people... knowing about us?"

Oliver was in thought for a moment before shrugging. "It doesn't really bother me, no. Does it bother you?"

"No. It is just the whole House rivalry thing and you are the Quidditch captain. I don't want to cause anymore hostility."

Oliver scoffed. "It can't get anymore hostile than it already is. And maybe if Flint knew he would start to give you some space."

But space wasn't something that Oliver was giving Melissa at that moment. They were in almost the exact same position they were in the day before on the train and yet again they were interrupted before their lips could meet. This time by something tugging at Melissa's trousers.

She yelped and jumped back from Oliver. As she looked down, she saw Mrs Norris pulling the ends of her trousers.

"Get off me you stupid cat!" she exclaimed as she wriggled her leg to try and get the cat off her. It was successful and the cat began to stroll away again, purring viciously in spite as it did so.

Melissa looked back over to Oliver who had an amused grin on his face. Melissa groaned.

"You know, I always wanted a cat. That was until I met Mrs Norris, the evil little creature. It is probably reporting back to Filch right now." Melissa said as she began to walk towards the potions classroom again.

"You are acting like Filch and others don't favour Slytherin and give you all the benefit of the doubt." Oliver said.

"Huh!" said Melissa in disbelief. "I can't believe I am hearing that from a Gryffindor! Didn't you lot win the House Cup not that long ago only because Dumbledore decided to give you all just the right amount of points to overtake us on the last day? That is no coincidence if you ask me!"

"We deserved it! Harry and his friends helped save the school!" Oliver argued back.

"Potter and his friends broke the rules and should have been punished for it whether they saved the school or not. Slytherin got the most points over the year and fairly too."

"No, they get so many points because Snape is always giving Slytherin them and taking them away from Gryffindor."

"Well, it helps when Gryffindor have Dumbledore's favourite in their House who he always gives stupid amounts of points to. Snape is just making it even."

Just as they reached the potions door, the bell rang and ended the little disagreement they were currently having. Melissa pushed the classroom door open and Oliver followed her inside the classroom to find Snape already there, waiting.

"Ah. Wood, Carter, it seems you have both finally grasped the idea of arriving to class on time," Snape said snidely. Melissa and Oliver decided to ignore his comment and walk towards their seats at the back of the classroom. "I wouldn't get too comfortable. I will be putting you all in pairs today to work on this potion."

Melissa's stomach immediately fluttered with nerves. She didn't like working in groups or pairs. She found herself uncomfortable talking and working with people she did not know all that well. She hoped she would be put with Rose or Penelope. She would even take being with Kelsey despite her weird behaviour towards her as of late. However, as the names were being read aloud, nothing could prepare herself for who she was partnered with.

"Melissa Carter and Marcus Flint."

Melissa thought about drinking one of the potions left to the side just to see what would happen and if it would send her to the hospital wing so that she could avoid this lesson and working with Flint on something. She looked to Oliver who was already staring at her.

"Just ignore him." Oliver whispered as Flint approached them both, a smug smile on his face.

"It appears you are in my seat for the lesson, Wood." Flint said, standing behind the seat.

"I'll see you after the lesson." Oliver said to Melissa as he made to stand. He didn't miss the opportunity to send Flint a glare as he passed to go and sit next to his assigned partner, Percy.

Melissa returned her attention back to the front of the classroom, ignoring the persistent staring of Marcus Flint beside her. Once Snape had finished lecturing them on the ingredients of the potion and how careful they had to be when making the potion, he directed for them to start the process. Melissa turned to Flint, a dangerously strict and serious glint in her eye.

"I'll collect the ingredients. You make sure we have all the equipment that we need." she said in a low tone before whipping her head around and storming towards the ingredients cupboard. 

"I bet you will enjoy your time with Marcus Flint." Penelope said in a teasing tone.

Melissa half-heartedly laughed at her comment. "I think it will be an achievement if I manage to get through the lesson without poisoning him." 

Melissa gave Penelope a sly grin as she reached for the final ingredient needed and put it into her cauldron that was already up to the brim with an array of ingredients. Melissa trapised across the classroom back to where Marcus was sitting, looking at a knife closely. Melissa slammed the cauldron onto the desk, making him drop the knife immediately and look at her with a grin. Melissa could tell that he was on the verge of speaking so she decided to cut him off before he did so.

"Cut these whilst I cut these." she said in a stern voice, passing him the ginger and giving herself the lizard's leg.

"I like a bossy woman." she heard him say quietly beside her as she emptied the rest of the cauldron's contents into organized piles. 

"Watch your tongue, Flint or I might _accidentally_ cut one of your fingers instead." Melissa retorted as she began to peel the skin off the lizard's leg.

"So, you and Wood then?" Marcus asked after a moment of rare silence from him.

"Mhm." Melissa mumbled shortly in response.

"Are you two...?" 

"Yup." Melissa said casually as she finished chopping the lizard's leg and placed it to the side whilst she poured in some honeywater into the cauldron and added the lizard's legs before giving it two stirs anticlockwise with the ladle. She was just about to reach for the next ingredient when Marcus caught hold of her arm. 

"I told you," he said in a dangerously low tone, "that you are only going to get yourself into a mess associating with people like him."

"Let go of my arm, Flint," she pulled her arm out of his grip, "and stop insulting my intelligence by thinking I can be easily manipulated." 

"I'm just looking out for you." he said quietly.

"I can look after myself, thank you very much."

✧

After classes had finished that day and dinner had been eaten, Melissa found herself in the library as her homework was already beginning to pile up. There was mostly silence in the secluded place she had found apart from the sound of her quill scratching the parchment as she wrote her potions essay and the occasional sound of Oliver across from her flipping a page of his book which was certainly not anything to do with schoolwork with it's large broomstick and snitch on its cover. 

Melissa stifled a yawn as she finished her final paragraph of her essay and placed down her quill. She looked up to across the table now scattered with pieces of parchment to see Oliver so engrossed in whatever it was he was doing that he did not notice her staring or the fact she was now standing up and walking over to his side of the desk to put the book she had been using for her essay back. Once she had placed her book safely back onto the shelf, she sneaked up behind the still oblivious Oliver and peered over his shoulder.

"That isn't homework, Wood." she whispered in his ear, looking at the Quidditch diagram he was scribbling over. 

Oliver turned his head up to look at her. "No peeking, Carter. This is confidential information for the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

"Oh, come on. As if I am going to go up to Roger Davies and recite all that information." Melissa gave him a smirk over her shoulder and went to look for another book that she needed.

"You haven't finished that potions essay already, have you?" she heard Oliver ask behind her as she ran her fingers along the spines of the seemingly endless line of books on the shelves.

"Yeah. It wasn't that difficult. Ah! Here is the book I am looking for!" Melissa pulled out a new book and carried it back to her desk, only to find Oliver picking up her essay and looking it over. She snatched it out of his hands. "No peeking, Wood. This is confidential information for Professor Snape."

"I just wanted some ideas. I'm struggling to get started." Oliver looked at her pleadingly.

"Well maybe you should focus more on your essay rather than Quidditch plans." Melissa said with a sly grin as she slipped her essay back into her bag. Oliver pouted at her.

"You like my Quidditch obsession, really." he commented as Melissa walked back over to his side of the desk and inspected the plans and diagrams closely. She actually did admire the way he dedicates himself to these plans and goes into immense, impeccable detail. Much like herself, he was a bit of a perfectionist. 

"Why have you drawn zig-zags?" Melissa asked, pointing at the page.

"I thought I said no peeking," Oliver said in an amused tone as he approached behind her, he leaned over her to point and explain the tactic. "It's called the Wollongong Shimmy. The chasers distract the opposite team by moving in zig-zags. It should work well against Ravenclaw as they tend to like to single out a chaser and essentially corner them." 

Melissa nodded in understanding and flicked through a few more of the diagrams, noticing each had a little tweak to it and a list of pros and cons down the side. She chuckled and turned her head towards the boy standing behind her. 

"You really do put a lot of thought into these." she said, but for once there wasn't a teasing tone to the way she spoke.

"I like things to be well thought out." Oliver shrugged and removed his arm. He straightened out and looked at the book Melissa had just pulled down from the shelf.

"Is that another book? Please do not tell me that you are writing another essay tonight?" he asked in astoundment.

"No," Melissa shook her head, "It is actually a book on Quidditch."

Oliver raised an eyebrow at her. "Trying to impress me, Carter?" 

"Don't flatter yourself, Wood. I have actually been researching some of the previous connections between Quidditch and football. There have been several attempts to use football tactics in Quidditch but it either doesn't work or they get frowned upon by the players because it came from a muggle sport."

Melissa had perched herself atop the desk as she spoke, swinging her legs. Oliver let out a small laugh and walked over to her. "And do you think_ you _could combine the both of them?" 

"Well, I don't think that I know enough about Quidditch to do so. But what I have noticed is that a lot of those who have tried have just dipped their feet into the world of football, their knowledge of football is rather lackluster. I feel like if you took Johan Cruyff and put him into the wizarding world for a few years and taught him Quidditch, he would revolutionise the game."

"Maybe that should be your future career, a Quidditch manager." Oliver suggested as he walked in between her swinging legs.

Melissa snorted. "Yeah, I don't think I have that in me but I have been wondering about using the idea of the triangle in Quidditch."

Oliver narrowed his eyes at her. "Explain."

"Well if your chasers are always in the shape of a triangle but remain only a few metres apart then it is far easier for them to pass the Quaffle. If they move a quick enough, continuously passing around this triangle, they should be able to reach the Hoops and score easily enough."

"Good idea, but you are forgetting about Blungers and Beaters. They can easily take more of them out if they stay close enough together, and if they are passing too much it increases the chance of intervention from another Chaser."

"Yeah, that is what I thought but then I was watching Barcelona the other day and it came to me. Tactical fouling. Once it looks like the opposition have regained possession, the Beaters commit a small foul- enough to break up play but not harsh enough to give away a penalty or seriously injure another player. Well, I mean this is Quidditch and you can't get sent off so you probably could do that. I have to admit, I do like the idea of no red cards in Quidditch. Imagine what you could get away with..."

"Melissa, your Slytherin is showing," Oliver laughed, "but I do sort of see what you are getting at. You should keep brainstorming ideas, it might help me out against Slytherin."

Melissa rolled her eyes. "Very funny, Oliver."

"You once told me to be more charismatic." he smirked.

"That I did. It seems like you want to impress me then." Melissa said with a grin, placing her arms onto his shoulders.

"I don't think I need to, do I?" 

Oliver grinned and leaned forward to press his lips against hers. They were lost in the moment as their lips moved against eachother's. Lost in their own little world where it was only her and him. That was until they heard someone clear their throat from behind them. 

They instantly pulled away and Melissa jumped off the desk, straightening out her clothes.

"Oh, hi Harry." Oliver said awkwardly to the person who had interrupted their moment. 

"Hi, Oliver. Sorry to bother you but could I borrow a copy of Which Broomstick?" Harry shyly asked, awkwardly shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"Have you not got a new broomstick yet?" Oliver asked as he shuffled through his bag. 

"Well, I did. I received a Firebolt for Christmas but McGonagall took it to inspect it because she thinks that Sirius Black gave it to be and it is cursed." 

Melissa noticed that Oliver froze amidst searching through his bag at the mention of the Firebolt and looked up at Harry in awe.

"A Firebolt? You got a _Firebolt_?" Melissa had never heard Oliver this excited.

"Yeah, but as I said, McGonagall has it and she won't tell me how long she will have it or if I will ever get it back." Harry explained.

A sudden look of frustration washed over Oliver's face and Melissa saw his knuckles tighten around his bag. 

"Don't worry, Harry. I will talk some sense into McGonagall. You will play with the Firebolt. I can't believe she would do this! We could have a Firebolt on our team! A Firebolt! Has McGonagall finally lost her marbles? I'll be back soon, Harry."

Melissa could hear Oliver muttering about McGonagall and the Firebolt until he walked out of the library. She was surprised that Madam Pince hadn't reprimanded him for it. Melissa rolled her eyes at his behaviour and opened the book she had got from the shelf before Oliver distracted her. Despite trying to immerse herself into her book, she could feel Harry's persistent stares. It was obvious that he was trying to figure out whether or not she was to be trusted.

"It is rude to stare, Potter." she remarked in an indifferent tone, not diverting her gaze from the book in her hands.

And suddenly it seemed that he was looking anywhere but at her. Melissa smiled from behind her book. It had been a while since she had to use her intimidation tactic. However, she still watched from over the cover of her book as the Slytherin Quidditch players Graham Montague and Cassius Warrington strolled into the library. Before they could get close enough to see Oliver's Quidditch plans still sprawled across the desk, she sneakily collected the pieces of parchment and slipped them into her bag.

"Hey Warrington, Montague." she casually said to them as they passed and stared at her.

"Hey, Carter. Marcus told us that you are kicking around with Wood now?"

Harry's eyes darted between Melissa and the two Slytherin boys in fear and intrigue. 

"Yeah, and what of it?" Melissa said harshly.

"Oh, nothing. We were just wondering if you could spill his secrets for us?" Warrington said with a smirk.

Melissa scoffed. "No chance. You know I'm not in anyway interested in Quidditch." 

"Then why are you reading that book?" Montague pointed to the book in her hands.

Melissa frowned. "Just leave me alone. I will not tell you anything so stop wasting your time." 

"Just remember where your true loyalties lie, Carter." Warrington said before they both disappeared to somewhere else in the library.

Melissa lifted her book back up to her face and could feel Harry staring at her again. 

"You're doing it again, Potter." she said, casually flicking a page over.

"Why didn't you let them see the plans?" Harry asked. 

Melissa looked up in shock. She didn't expect him to speak and especially not ask her that. She dropped her book down onto the table and looked at him with a serious stare.

"Because Oliver trusted me enough to see those plans and believe it or not, I value his trust more than the members of my Quidditch team."

Harry opened his mouth to respond when Oliver returned into the library, looking flustered. 

"Sorry, Harry. McGonagall insists that they keep the broom for testing. She seemed to think that I was being insensitive. She said I am putting Quidditch ahead of your own safety!" Oliver exclaimed as he approached the table where Harry and Melissa resided. 

Melissa chuckled from behind her book, of course Oliver had to make such a big deal out of a broomstick. This caused Oliver to glance over at her and therefore noticing that his plans had gone missing.

"Where have they gone?" he asked looking between Melissa and Harry.

Melissa reached down into her bag and pulled out the stack of parchment, offering it to Oliver. "Yet again, I have saved you from your plans slipping out. I often think that I am far too nice to you."

Oliver took the pieces of parchment and skimmed through them, then looked to Harry for reassurance. Harry nodded and Oliver looked Melissa over. 

"I'll repay you in Chocolate Frogs," he smiled at her before returning his attention to Harry. He pulled out a copy of Which Broomstick? from his bag and passed it to Harry. "here. You can have a look through some broomsticks in there just in case McGonagall decides to keep the broomstick for the Ravenclaw game. And what about the Dementors?" 

"I have been getting lessons from Lupin in how to cast a Patronus Charm." said Harry.

"That's good. If you ever need any help, Melissa over here can produce a pretty good Patronas." Oliver said and Melissa scoffed. 

"I'm sure Lupin's help is sufficient. I will happily keep your secrets, Wood, but I will not directly help your team out. Especially third years who do not know when to keep in line." Melissa said monotonically.

Oliver must have noticed Harry's wary look towards Melissa as he let out a laugh. "Don't listen to her when she is like that. It is all a facade, she is just trying to intimidate you. She is all talk, no action." 

Melissa narrowed her eyes at him and his words. He was lucky she liked him...

"I better get going." Harry said, noticing Melissa's dangerous glare at Oliver.

"Of course. Remember we have a training session tomorrow morning!" Oliver called after Harry as he left the library.

✧

Harry walked into the Gryffindor Common Room through the portrait hole that evening, magazine in hand. He headed over towards his favourite seat by the fireplace where Ron, Hermione and the Weasley Twins were already sitting nearby.

"That took you awhile, Harry. Did you eventually find him?" George asked, laying down his card in a game of Exploding Snap he was currently in with Fred.

"Yeah," Harry nodded, sitting down in the seat and placing the magazine on his lap. "He was in the library."

"The library?" Fred asked, suspicion written on his face.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, he was with that Slytherin again. Melissa?" 

Fred and George exchanged a look, interrupting their game of Exploding Snap. Harry became confused. He thought that the Twins knew of Oliver's relationship with the Slytherin.

"I told you he was staring at her this morning!" George said, punching Fred's arm gently.

Fred rubbed his arm at his twin's action. "I didn't realise he was this fond of her."

"Well, he was snogging her." Harry added.

Fred and George yet again looked at each other in shock and then towards Harry. "Did you just say he was snogging her?" Fred said.

"Yes?" 

"I can't believe it! Out of everyone, a Slytherin girl has managed to stop Oliver Wood from thinking about Quidditch all the time!" Fred shook his head in disbelief and at that moment, the portrait door opened again and a very relaxed looking Oliver Wood walked in, oblivious to the conversation taking place.

"Oi, Wood!" Fred called him over. Harry hid his face behind the magazine, embarrassment and guilt filling him as he felt he probably shouldn't have told the twins what he stumbled across Oliver in the middle of.

Harry watched over the magazine as Oliver walked over and eyed the twins suspiciously. "What? Please do not tell me you two have got detention again."

"We heard a little rumour that you were snogging a certain Slytherin in the library. The betrayal! How could you do this to us, Captain?" George said, teasingly placing his hand on his heart. 

Oliver looked taken aback and Harry felt Oliver staring at him through the magazine. Harry could feel the heat rising to his ears and face. He could barely look Oliver in the eye. 

"I have no time for your jokes. You should be heading to bed soon anyway. We had an early Quidditch practice tomorrow." Oliver said rigidly before turning around and heading up the stairs to the dormitory, 

"You know what, Fred? For once I am looking forward to a Quidditch practice session. Teasing Oliver about this is going to be _so_ fun."

"Agreed, George."


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver prepares for the Ravenclaw game and Kelsey learns some valuable information.

  
Over a month had passed and the cold winds were slowly changing into warmer, longer days with the trees outside the Hogwarts grounds gradually returning to their shades of green. And with that came closer the next round of Quidditch matches.

Oliver was especially aware of this. His training hours had increased and so had his team talks. The sun had barely risen and he had dragged his teammates out of bed and down onto the Quidditch pitch. They were all huddled into the changing room after one training session as Oliver paced back and forth reciting all of the tactics he had been working on the past few days and what they still had to improve on.

"Do you all understand?" he said as he finished his speech and stopped pacing.

A mixture of grunted noises of agreement came from his teammates and Oliver nodded, obviously not noticing the lack of enthusiasm from his teammates.

"Right, lets head back up to the castle for breakfast then."

Oliver could hear Fred and George grumbling and moaning behind him as they walked back up the steps to the castle. Oliver stopped and turned around to confront them.

"What is your problem today?" Oliver asked.

"Do we really need to have these practices as early?" George asked, followed by a loud yawn.

"Yes. Our game against Ravenclaw is less than a week away. Do I need to remind you of this?" Oliver frowned in disappointment at them.

This was serious. He had told them several times. They should have won the Quidditch Cup the last two years and this irked him more than anything. This year was his final year at Hogwarts and he was more determined than ever to feel the cold metal of the Quidditch Cup in his hands.

"And we thought that you getting a girlfriend would calm you down..."

✧

Oliver was still going over the Quidditch practice at breakfast. He was pondering over whether or not he should add in an extra training session this week just to ensure that they were fully ready as he loaded his plate with food. The high intensity training sessions always took a lot of energy out of him and often left his stomach calling out for every sort of food available at the table. His thoughts were interrupted as the Fred and George raised their voices.

"Oi, Carter!"

Oliver's head shot up and he instantly caught sight of the familiar girl with her hair in its typical ponytail, swaying as she walked over to their table. He smiled at her as she caught his eye but had to restrain himself from turning around to the Weasley twins with questioning looks. He was very sceptical of the twins and their intentions sometimes. Especially when it came to Melissa.

"Good morning Fred and George." she nodded at them as she slid into the seat next to Oliver.

"Don't do that! You are infecting our Gryffindor table with Slytherin germs." Fred said, giving her a mock serious look.

"You were the ones who called me over," Melissa shrugged and reached for a piece of toast, "Good practice?" she asked Oliver before biting into her toast.

"Yeah, we still need to work on a few things though." he replied truthfully and he could hear Fred and George groan across the table at his response.

"Since you are the only one he listens to can you tell him that we do not need to get up this early for practices or at least distract him in the mornings or something?" George looked pleadingly at Melissa who only scoffed.

"I'm sure Oliver knows what he is doing." she said, patting Oliver's head.

Oliver appreciated her words. He knew how easy it would have been for her to go down her usual route of teasing him but she decided to back him. But he was sure that she was going to tease him about it afterwards in private.

"You let him drag you out of bed at 4am to a Quidditch pitch and see how you feel about it then." Fred said, dropping his head down onto his arms.

"He wouldn't dare try it with me," Melissa sent Oliver a smirk, "and besides, you two were the ones that signed up to play Quidditch, you have to deal with the responsibilities that come along with that."

"Exactly." Oliver nodded in agreement at her words.

"I have decided that I do not like these two together."

At that moment, the distinct sound of the owls flapping their wings echoed all around the Great Hall. Oliver looked up just in time for his owl to drop a letter down onto his lap and then fly away again. He noticed the neat handwriting straight away to be that of his mother's. He ripped open the envelope and peered inside to find a letter and a familiar picture. He first took out the letter and quickly scanned over it. There was nothing new to it, just his mother asking how he was and wishing him luck for the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw.

Oliver put the letter to the side and finally pulled out the picture left in the envelope. He nudged Melissa next to him who was far too busy in pouring herself a glass of juice to pay attention to him at that moment but when she saw what he was holding in his hands, her face lit up. She gently took it from him, almost scared that it was too fragile, and stared at it admirably.

"Isn't he just beautiful?" Melissa gushed over the signed picture of Joe Smith in her hand. It was almost as if the moving picture was taunting with Oliver with the way Joe Smith was winking. But deep down Oliver knew that she was just crushing on the Quidditch player a little and was emphasizing it to mess with him. Well, two could play at that game

"But do you not remember what you said about me and him?" Oliver said in a teasing tone as he slung on of his arms around her shoulders. She looked up to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Charlie says good luck for the game." Fred said from across the table interrupting their little moment.

"Oh, how is Charlie getting on?" Melissa asked diverting her attention from Oliver back to the twins across the table.

"He works in Romania studying dragons." Fred said.

"Ohh very interesting! Wait until I tell Esther! Me and her used to go along to Quidditch games in first year just to see him play." said Melissa as Oliver noticed her cheeks redden slightly. She didn't have a crush on Charlie Weasley did she? For someone who claimed she wasn't a massive fan of Quidditch, Oliver was beginning to notice that she had a bit of a type...

Before he could confront her on the issue, Oliver's eyes widened as he saw that Professor McGonagall was carrying a shiny and pristine broomstick over to where Harry Potter sat a few seats down the table with his friends. Oliver couldn't take his eyes off of the broom as he recognised immediately what it was: a Firebolt. A real Firebolt!

It was the most beautiful thing Oliver had ever seen. He got out of his seat and made his way over to the crowd already forming to trying and get a peek at the wondrous broomstick. Oliver stared at it in awe and admiration, he was in the presence of the best and technically advanced broomstick in the world. He felt a sudden urge to reach out and touch it when he heard someone chuckle and speak behind him.

"I wish you looked at me like that."

Oliver finally broke his gaze away from the beautiful broomstick and turned towards the grinning girl behind him.

"Yeah but can you go at least one hundred and fifty miles per hour and have an unbreakable braking charm?" Oliver said with a smirk and saw Melissa roll her eyes in response but noticed that she was fighting back an amused grin.

"I'll leave you to admire your new love. I'll see you after classes?" Melissa said.

"Yeah. The usual place?"

"The usual place."

Melissa gave him a quick peck on the lips before heading off towards the Slytherin table who were far too busy staring at the Gryffindor table with envious glares at Harry's new broomstick. Oliver smirked to himself. Finally, this Quidditch season was beginning to look a lot more positive. The dream of him lifting the Cup slowly becoming more and more likely to become a reality.

✧

Later that day, Melissa knocked on the familiar wooden door. Even though Spring was essentially here, the winds during the evening still had a bit of a bite to them so she made sure the Slytherin scarf she wore was tightly wound around her neck.

"Come in." a voice sounded from the other side of the door.

Melissa opened the door to be met with the sight of Oliver sat in the Captain's office, behind his desk, obviously immersed in whatever new Quidditch plan he was forming.

This had become their place to spend some time together. Their first day back after Christmas taught them that you get no privacy in the halls and corridors of Hogwarts Castle. So instead, they decided to reside in the small office assigned to the Gryffindor Quidditch captain of course under the promise that Melissa didn't report back to any Slytherin about what she had seen in the office.

Melissa took the seat on the other side of the desk and propped her head onto her hands, observing Oliver as he seemed to be concentrating hard on whatever it was he was doing.

"Can you not relax a little now that you have a Firebolt on your team?" she asked, but she already knew the answer. It was just fun and amusing to press his buttons sometimes, especially when he was in his serious Quidditch mode. Which just so happened to be the majority of the time.

"No. Once my attention slips, we become complacent. Complacency is a massive threat to success."Oliver's tone remained monotonous and he did not even look up from his piece of parchment as he spoke.

Melissa pouted at the lack of attention she was receiving. She decided to pick up one of his plans and look it over. Oliver must have noticed her actions as he know glanced up at her.

"Put it down, Melissa. You are starting to become far too knowledgeable about my Quidditch plans as it is."

"And what harm has it done for you so far?" Melissa said with a quirked brow but placed the plans down anyway.

"Well now I have to put up with you and pretend I like you so you don't go around telling your whole house my secrets, which I must say is pretty harmful to my happiness." Oliver teased.

"You enjoy my company, otherwise why would you let me interrupt your serious Quidditch planning sessions like this." Melissa smirked as she put her feet up onto the table.

"Don't test your luck, Carter. Or I will tell Charlie Weasley you had a crush on him." Oliver gave a snide grin as he spoke.

Melissa immediately removed her feet from the table and looked at him incredulously. Where had he got that ludicrous idea from?

"What are you even talking about, Wood?"

"Don't try and hide it from me. I saw the way you reacted to the mention of his name. "

Melissa laughed and shook her head. "It was Esther who had a crush on him. I had a crush on someone else at the time..."

"Oh? Who?" Oliver asked with sparked interest.

"I am not telling you. It is far too embarrassing." Melissa shook her head and felt her ears and neck heating up.

"Is it someone I know?" Oliver pressed.

"Possibly, yes."

"Come on, just tell me!"

"Fine. But you must promise not to ever bring this up ever again. Understood?" Oliver nodded. After a moments silence filled with anticipation Melissa finally spoke. "Percy."

Oliver took a moment to process the words. "Percy Weasley?"

"Yeah. Me and Esther would fantasie a world where she would marry Charlie and I would marry Percy and we would become sisters." Melissa admitted sheepishly, avoiding looking at the snickering Oliver.

"You and Percy? Married? That would be a strange world to live in... although you both do want to work in the same department at the Ministry..."

Melissa's gaze returned to Oliver and she narrowed her eyes at him. "Enough of this. I definitely do not have a crush on Percy now. He takes things far too seriously."

"He is alright, he can sometimes just talk too much about something that really isn't that interesting."

"Just like you with Quidditch then." Melissa said walking over to where Oliver was sat and poking his cheek, causing his face to squash up in an adorable fashion.

"I think that deep down you enjoy when I talk about Quidditch." Oliver said as he composed himself and swirled around in his chair to face her again.

Melissa pondered for a moment then shrugged. She did enjoy watching his face light up whenever he went into fervent explanations to do with Quidditch but she did not want to give him the satisfaction of admitting that.

Oliver got up off his seat, his eyes focused on the scarf around her neck and a disgusted look on his face. When he reached her he took it into his hands and tugged gently on it.

"You jeopardize your good looks with this scarf around your neck." he said in a low voice, slowly removing it from her neck.

"I could say the same about this." Melissa said as she fiddled with the hem of the red and gold Gryffindor Quidditch jumper he wore.

Oliver let out a laugh at her comment and removed her hands from his jumper and intertwining them with his.

"We better head up to the castle before we miss dinner." Oliver said, leaning in towards her.

"A few more minutes won't do us any harm." Melissa smirked before closing the gap between them.

✧

Meanwhile, Kelsey was strolling along the corridors. She had just finished detention with McGonagall. Apparently her attitude had been out of line in Transfiguration today. Kelsey scowled at the memory and made her way along the corridors towards the Great Hall.

She wondered whether Melissa would be there or if she would be elsewhere with her Gryffindor _boyfriend. _Kelsey disapproved of the relationship. Whilst she could see that Melissa was happy, she believed that Gryffindors and Slytherins were two things that should never be mixed. It was too dangerous.

Kelsey also believed that Melissa was being disloyal. Oliver Wood was the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team; she could be feeding him all of Slytherins secrets for all they knew! Slytherins should stick together. All the other houses did stick their noses up to them after all. Especially Gryffindors.

And much to Kelsey's annoyance, Marcus Flint was taking the prospect of Melissa and Oliver Wood not in the way she would have liked. Kelsey hoped that one of the few good things to come out of this relationship would have been that Marcus would realise that Melissa was not worth his time and look elsewhere instead. However, it seemed like he had lost interest in everything altogether. The only thing Marcus seemed to be focused on was Quidditch and getting revenge on Oliver Wood for 'stealing his girl'.

_His girl_! That is what Kelsey should be, she thought to herself.

Kelsey's thoughts and movements were halted as she heard two distinct voices in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom as she passed. She leaned closer to the door to listen in.

"Dumbledore, I think it is best that someone looks out for her. What if the news breaks about her?" said the familiar voice of Professor Lupin.

"News about Melissa Carter? What news?"

"That she is a Muggle born! You know that the Slytherins will rip her to shreds if they ever found out."

Kelsey gasped and backed away from the door. Melissa Carter was a Mudblood? Kelsey quickly glanced around to check that no one was about before rushing down the corridor and towards the Great Hall.

When she arrived, she caught sight of Melissa saying goodbye to Oliver Wood, smiling all sweetly at him before walking to the Slytherin table. Kelsey's eyes darted to Marcus who was also watching the exchange but with a menacing look on his face.

Kelsey smirked. Finally she had something to get back at Melissa Carter with. This time, Marcus Flint will forget about her and his feelings for her once and for all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hii, hope you all liked this chapter! The calm before the storm ;) Anyway, I hope this chapter was alright. I wrote it when I experienced a small migraine half way through which can sometimes mean that I make stupid mistakes as my concentration lessens but I have read it over as always so I think it should be fine :) I just need to be more careful of what I eat and sleep more it seems! See you all for the next chapter x


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melissa wakes up only to find that her nightmare has just begun.

The unsuspecting Melissa woke up the next day in a relatively good mood. It was only a few more days until her birthday and she was excited to eat the cake that her Grandma always sent her for her birthday (although her Grandma always complained about having to send it via owl post as she had never quite grasped the idea of the Wizarding World).

Melissa noticed, as she rubbed her eyes and stood up off her bed that Kelsey and Rose were already awake and out of the dormitory. She frowned. That was unusual.

Esther stirred in the bed next to hers and Melissa walked over and gave her a nudge.

"Esther, it is almost time for breakfast." she shook her best friend's shoulders gently in an attempt to wake her. It seemed to have worked as Esther's eyes fluttered open.

Regretfully, Melissa was not spending as much time with Esther recently. Between Esther's Head Girl duties and her blossoming relationship with Jacob Richtree combined with Melissa's own ever evolving relationship with Oliver, made it nearly impossible for them to find some time together to catch up.

"Come on sleepyhead." Melissa said, rubbing Esther's head playfully.

"Be careful what you do, Carter. Need I remind you that my boyfriend is playing yours at Quidditch in a few days?"

"I fully trust Oliver and his team to win this for me. But do not tell him." Melissa pointed her finger warningly at Esther.

Whilst they had spent little time together recently, they had time to place a bet between them. Jacob played as Chaser on the Ravenclaw team so Esther began teasing Melissa that Jacob and Ravenclaw were going to flatten Gryffindor and Oliver. Even though Melissa was still determined for Slytherin to win the cup overall, she had to admit that Esther's jests about Oliver and Gryffindor getting beat did irk her a little. She would never let Oliver know this though. 

Soon enough, Esther was out of bed and ready to get breakfast. Melissa walked behind her as they made their way into the Slytherin Common Room. The mummers and chatting stopped as soon as Melissa stepped foot in the Common Room. She could see and feel everyone in the Common Room turn and look at her scruntinsingly, like she was some dirt on the bottom of their shoe. Melissa looked to Esther beside her who was looking as confused as Melissa felt. But then a dread washed over her. They couldn't know...

Suddenly, the third year Pansy Parkinson was in Melissa's face, looking at her with disgust. 

"How dare you - a _Mudblood_ \- walk around this Common Room and wear that crest. Salazar Slytherin would be appalled that someone like you has managed to wither their way into this house!" she spat at Melissa, who could feel tears prickling in her eyes.

She looked around at noticed that nearly everyone in the Common Room was nodding in agreement with Pansy and glancing over at Melissa with a look of contempt. Melissa felt her breathing and heart beat rise rapidly as a lump formed in her throat. Her biggest fear had come true, and it was worse than any nightmare she had had before.

Melissa glanced to Esther, who looked shocked and wary but Melissa didn't miss that fact that her hands were clenched at her sides. Having seen enough of her fellow housemates disgust at her, Melissa shot Pansy a dangerous glare before rushing back to her dormitory. She could hear rushed footsteps following her over the sound of the waves harshly lapping against the windows of the dungeons. 

"Melissa, wait up!" she heard Esther exclaim from behind her. Melissa turned to her best friend, she could feel the tears already leaking from her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"How can I be okay? They are all going to hate me now!" Melissa let out a hiccup as she finally let all the tears fall along with the sadness and frustration she felt. 

"Shh. They will come around eventually and if they don't, they will have me to deal with." Esther said soothingly as she pulled Melissa into a hug. 

Melissa did not let out any words for a while as she sobbed into her best friend's robes. Her emotions were coursing through her so quickly it was hard to keep track of her thoughts. First she felt shame. Why couldn't she just be a Pureblood, or even a Half-Blood? They were right, she didn't deserve to be a Slytherin.

Second she felt overwhelming sadness and dread. She could never feel part of her house the same way ever again. This stung her as she always felt proud to be a Slytherin and took it in her stride. She wasn't sure if she could do that anymore.

And then Melissa felt a surge of anger. How was this let out? She had only told two students- Esther and Oliver- the two people she trusted double the amount of anyone else in the school. And she also told Professor Lupin but she was certain that he would not tell, especially when she knew a secret of his own... one way more destructive than hers...

Melissa pulled out of the hug and stared at Esther quizzically. "How did it slip out?" she asked.

Esther shrugged. "I have no idea. Who knew apart from me?" 

"Oliver does, but he wouldn't would he?" Melissa said with doubt creeping in. "Lupin knows too but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't risk me spilling his secret..." 

Esther narrowed her eyes in thought. "I don't think Oliver would and Lupin is a teacher so..." 

"I can't go to classes today I just can't." Melissa interrupted, shaking her head. "I cannot confront anyone when I am like this." 

"Melissa, you can't let them get to you and stop you from attending class." Esther placed a comforting hand on Melissa's shoulders and shrugged it off, looking away as she felt the warm tears trickling down her cheeks again.

"It's too late, Esther. They already have."

✧

After another successful training session, Oliver had put away all the equipment and was feeling quite content with himself and his team. There was still a few things the team needed to work on before the game against Ravenclaw but Oliver believed that they were firmly on track to winning the game. 

"Oliver! Did you know?" Angelina said in between gasps as she rushed over towards him. 

"Know what?" Oliver looked at her in confusion. 

"About Melissa being Muggle-born." Angelina said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, yes. She told me ages ago," Oliver shrugged, his tone indifferent but then realisation dawned on him, "wait, how do_ you_ know?"

"It is everywhere this morning. The Slytherins are in foul mood this morning because of it." Angelina said, scrunching up her nose in disgust at the mention of the Slytherins.

Oliver's eyes widened. How did they find out? Merlin, the Slytherins were probably tearing her down right now...

"Have you seen Melissa?" Oliver tried to ask casually, although his worry was rising increasing as each moment passed. 

"No," frowned Angelina, "although I did see two of her friends in the Great Hall."

"Was Esther Tavendale there?"

"No. No sign of her either."

Oliver sighed and the happiness that was filling him that morning was drained at the news that Melissa's secret had been uncovered. He began to walk towards the Great Hall when Angelina pulled him back.

"If you find her, tell her that me and the rest of the Gryffindor team are on her side. Those horrible Slytherins..." 

"Don't worry, Angelina. I will."

Oliver's route to the Great Hall was interrupted when he was roughly pulled to the side.

"Did you do it? Did you tell them?" Oliver instantly realised that the voice belonged to Esther and the tension that was building up in him eased a little.

"What? Of course not?" he said indignantly, trying to shrug Esther's hold off but it didn't work and she just gripped his arm tighter.

"Do you have any idea who did?" 

"I have just as much idea as you do." Oliver looked her dead in the eye, unwavering under Esther's intense stare. She finally seemed to believe him as she let him go and began pacing in the middle of the corridor.

"Is she alright?" Oliver asked. He felt a little awkward. He had never had to maintain a conversation with Esther on his own before and the atmosphere was already tense between them.

"Uh, yeah. A little shaken, obviously. I think she will be fine though. She has thick skin." Esther stopped pacing and it looked as if an idea came to her mind. A look of urgency overcame her expression."Listen, Oliver, if I hear you had anything to do with this I will burn all your broomsticks but I trust you for now. If you come across anything or anyone that seems suspicious with this whole thing, let me know." 

Esther gave Oliver a hard, warning stare. Oliver swallowed deeply. He couldn't lie, Esther Tavendale was pretty scary and intimidating when something she didn't like was happening. He could see why she was Head Girl.

"Got it." he finally managed to say.

And with that, Esther had stormed off again. 

✧

Later that day, Esther sat in the Slytherin Common Room in the chair in the far corner. She was observing everyone closely. Esther believed that she had finally found the culprit. She should have known it was her all along. The person who had been so evidently jealous of Melissa this past year. Kelsey Sanderson.

Esther had noticed that Kelsey had been avoided her all day and was instead whispering away to other people at every opportunity she could get. Esther had also noticed her behaviour when herself and Melissa arrived in the Common Room that morning. She looked almost smug, like she had gained some victory over Melissa.

Esther watched her closely, not looking away from her as the crowds of people began to lessen as it drew nearer to nighttime. When there was no one left but Esther, Kelsey and Rose, Esther sprung from her chair and charged towards the two whispering girls with purpose.

"You! What kind of sick game are you playing?" Esther said in an enraged voice, pointing her finger at the blonde.

Kelsey looked up at her innocently. "I don't know what you are talking about..." she said in an airy voice.

"Don't play dumb with me! You know what you did to Melissa!" Esther raised her voice further. 

Kelsey raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So you are here to defend the Mudblood?"

"You are unbelievable, Kelsey!" Esther seethed through gritted teeth. "and you are no better!" she pointed at Rose who looked guilty the moment Esther's attentions turned to her. 

"Come off it, Tavendale. The school deserved to know who she truly is. She has been lying to us. I was just doing the school a good deed." Kelsey said in a spiteful tone.

Esther was about to reply when she heard a weak voice from behind her. 

"It was you?" said a watery and bloodshot eyed Melissa from the entrance to the common room. She was still in her pajamas and looked completely worn out from crying. Esther's heart ached for her.

"Yes. It was me." Kelsey stood up and stared down Melissa. 

Melissa's sadness seemed to riple into anger as she stormed over towards Kelsey and looked her dead in the eye.

"You were meant to be my friend, Kelsey!" 

"I don't make friends with liars and Mudbloods." Kelsey retorted and Esther cold see that Melissa's anger was beginning to crumble down into sadness again. She watched as Melissa took off the necklace around her neck and offered it to Kelsey. Kelsey looked at the necklace in shock as it glistened green under the dim light of the common room.

"Take this back then. I want nothing to do with you." 

At that moment, the portrait door opened and Marcus Flint walked in. Esther groaned. He was about the least useful person in the world right now. Kelsey immediately looked at him with a sly grin.

"You join us at a good moment, Marcus. I was just saying how disgusting it was to have a filthy Mudblood in our house, tarnishing the reputation of our beloved Salazar Slytherin." Kelsey said, making Esther's blood boil and her hands clench at her sides.

Marcus sniggered. "You know it is funny because I consider it more disgusting that someone would betray their friend like that."

Kelsey looked appalled as Marcus Flint walked past her as if she was nothing and stopped at Melissa. He placed a hand on her arm which she abruptly shrugged off. He didn't seemed phased though. 

"Are you okay?" he asked her soothingly. Esther was surprised that Marcus Flint had it in him to be comforting.

"Yes, I am fine as I can be." Melissa looked away from him but her tone was softer than it usually was with him.

Esther looked back towards Kelsey who looked as if she was going to explode with fury at any moment. 

"Come, Rose. We should head to bed." was all Kelsey said before grabbing Rose's arm and storming towards the dormitories.

"Ignore her and the rest of the house. They are all being idiotic. If they had any sense they would know that you have been a great asset to this house. You are the brightest student in our year after all."

Esther had never expected those words to ever come out of Flint's mouth and it seemed that Melissa hadn't either as she stared at him in utter shock, her mouth open.

"Uh, thanks, Flint. I appreciate it." Melissa finally managed to say and gave a rare weak smile to Marcus. 

Marcus seemed overjoyed at this as his face lit up. And it was at that moment, Esther realised. Marcus Flint had feelings for Melissa. Serious feelings. It wasn't just attraction or lust, he cared for her. It seemed that Melissa noticed too as she looked over at Esther in shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my longest or most proudest chapter but I have been soo tired as of late that sometimes it can be difficult for me to write but I am surviving and updates may be slow from now on as I have finally arrived at Uni! Hope you all enjoyed anyway! x


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melissa tries to cope with her new found attention. However, one Professor in particular makes it more difficult.

  
Glares. Everywhere Melissa went she was getting glared at like she was some three headed dog in a zoo enclosure. The Slytherins gave her looks of disgust, the Ravenclaws looks of intrigue, Gryffindors looks of confusion and the Hufflepuffs gave looks of pity.

Melissa hated it. Hated not being able to walk the corridors of the castle without being gaped at. She wanted to run straight back to the dungeons and lock herself in the dormitory again.

But she couldn't. She had already missed one day of classes, she simply could not miss another. And as Esther had said that morning as she attempted to drag Melissa out of bed, Melissa could not give Kelsey and the others the satisfaction of them winning. She needed to be the bigger person.

When Melissa finally reached the Great Hall with Esther by her side, the air suddenly felt very tense as the majority of Slytherins at their table stopped talking and stared at her as if daring her to come and sit at the table. Melissa could see Kelsey wearing a smug look out of the corner of her eye. Be the bigger person, she reminded herself.

"Come on, let's sit with Oliver." Esther tugged her arm and pulled her towards the Gryffindor table where she was still receiving glares but at least she had Oliver smiling at her and Angelina creating space on the bench for her.

"Hey." Melissa said awkwardly as she approached them. Oliver immediately reached for her hand and pulled her beside him.

"Are you okay?? Do I need to hunt down any of them in particular?" he asked, his eyes darting around her face, seemingly looking for any sign of hurt or discomfort. Melissa laughed at his intensity.

"I'm alright, Oliver." she said as she smiled weakly and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

Oliver didn't look convinced and began to pile foods onto a plate for her and pushed it towards her. "Eat up," he said, "you missed all the meals yesterday. You must be starving!"

"Finally, it is not us he is pestering about eating breakfast." said the twins as they slid onto the bench across from Melissa along with their friend Lee Jordan.

Melissa ignored them and began to work her way through the food in front of her. There was no denying that she was in fact starving.

"I swear I will end those Slytherins." Melissa heard Oliver say spitefully from beside her, she looked up and saw that he was tightly gripping a knife and staring them down from across the hall.

"Oliver, stop," Melissa said in a warning tone as she reached for the knife in his hand and gently took it from him, "we don't need you in detention or in the hospital wing before your big match against Ravenclaw."

"She's right." Angelina said next to Melissa, nodding her head and staring at Oliver who was now sulking.

Melissa then noticed that she couldn't see Esther sitting at the table with them. She frowned and turned her head around to see Esther still standing there awkwardly. Melissa nudged Oliver next to her.

"Budge up a bit so Esther can sit."

Oliver did so and Melissa moved so that there was a place next to her and Angelina which Esther hesitantly slid into. Melissa could tell that Esther was uneasy at the prospect of being surrounded by Gryffindors, most of whom she had never uttered a word to before (apart from the twins whom she had taken many points off of).

"Everyone be nice to Esther or I'll rip your heads off." Melissa said casually before stuffing a piece of toast in her mouth.

"You and Oliver really are made for each other. You two are both crazy aggressive when you want to be." Fred commented.

"Not here to take points off us, Tavendale?" George teased Esther who scowled at him.

"I'm here to comfort my best friend. Have you got a problem with that, Weasley?"

"No. We're on her side. Our parents brought us up to not dwell on what a person's blood status is... that it doesn't matter. We should treat them all the same. It's just a shame that Slytherins are not brought up with such manners." said Fred.

"Not _all_ Slytherins." Esther added.

"Yeah but most of them." Fred retaliated.

"Enough! I'm sure this isn't what Melissa needs right now." Angelina said as she gave the twins a firm stare.

The twins shrugged and started talking amongst themselves with Lee Jordan. Melissa tried to avoid the constant stares in her direction by cutting the food on her plate an unnecessary amount of times before picking it up on her fork and eating it.

"Have you found out who did it?" Melissa heard Oliver ask Esther as she chewed on her bacon. Suddenly a wave of sadness hit Melissa like a particularly nasty jinx.

"Yeah. Kelsey." Esther said with a spiteful tone.

Melissa felt Oliver tense beside her. "Kelsey??"

"Yup." Melissa said, stabbing a sausage on her plate particularly more harshly than usual.

"I always knew there was something about her..." Oliver muttered under his breath.

"I just wish Flint will snog her in the broomstick cupboard already so that she can lay off me." Melissa said, her gaze finally looking up from her plate and across the hall to Kelsey who was watching Flint very closely.

"She likes Flint?" Angelina asked, astounded.

"Yeah, but Marcus is too smitten with Melissa to realise." Esther said with a smirk earning a smack on the arm from Melissa.

"You Slytherins have some crazy love triangles." Angelina said whilst shaking her head.

✧

After breakfast, Melissa walked to Potions with Oliver by her side as usual. The glares continued out of the Great Hall and into corridors and hallways, but Melissa tried to keep her gaze focused on the floor in shame, ignoring their looks. Oliver had to stop her walking by grabbing her arm once they reached the potions classroom as her attention had been too focused on the floor.

"Are you sure you are okay?" Oliver asked her once she had brought her gaze up to meet his.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Melissa said with a weak smile, "I'll get used to it eventually."

Melissa then led the way into the classroom with Oliver following closely behind her as they made their way over to their usual seat. Melissa perched herself upon the stoll and tried to distract herself with her textbooks as everyone filtered into the classroom and settled down.

Once everyone had taken their seats, silence descended over the classroom. As Snape swept into the classroom, he stopped and stared at Melissa for a moment before continuing to the front of the classroom.

The class went by fairly uneventfully for the most part. Melissa sat in silence and took the notes from the board as usual but due to a lack of sleep her concentration began to waver slightly and her eyelids began to feel unnaturally heavy. With her head rested upon her hand, Melissa couldn't help but to let her eyes shut for a split second. But that split second was more than enough for Professor Snape.

"Is this class not interesting enough for you, Carter?" he snared as he steadily approached her desk. Melissa stared at him in utter shock. He never spoke to her like that. Or any of the Slytherins for that matter.

Everyone in the classroom was staring at her, awaiting what was going to happen next in her state off with Snape. Melissa was unable to fathom any words at that moment, shock overwhelming her so she took a few moments to compose herself before stumbling out unsteady words.

"I'm s-sorry Professor, I-"

"I don't want to hear any excuses, Carter! Five points from Slytherin." Snape said before turning around and walking back to the front of the classroom to continue the lesson.

Every single person seemed shocked and in utter disbelief at what just happened. Did Severus Snape really take points off of Slytherin house?

It all hit Melissa like a tonne of bricks. Deep down she knew why Snape did what he did. Why he humiliated her like that. He knew about her blood status and must see her as a disgrace like most of her fellow housemates do. For some reason this hurt the most. The head of her house clearly distasted her for being in his house enough to take points from it. Melissa felt like she had taken a punch to the stomach.

It was obvious by the fists clenched onto the table beside her that she was not the only person who clocked onto what Snape had just did and what this really meant. Oliver was staring at the Professor at the front of the classroom with a deadly glare in his eye. Melissa looked at Oliver fondly at this moment. She appreciated his frustration and concern but did not need anymore attention drawn towards her at that moment. She waited until Snape had turned his back to write on the board before leaning towards his ear and whispering.

"Please calm down, it doesn't matter. Everyone knows he is just a git."

Oliver narrowed his eyes at her in response to her words.

"He _knew_ what he was doing there... the spiteful little-"

Melissa interrupted his little rant by covering his mouth with her hand.

"Shhh... just wait until after this lesson before you combust. The last thing I need right now is you picking a fight with Snape."

Oliver scoffed but it seemed that he took in Melissa's words as he remained relatively calm for the remainder of the lesson. His jaw only tightening slightly whenever Snape looked their way.

Once the lesson was finally over, Melissa dragged Oliver to the library for their free period. She managed to find a more subdued corner of the library and sighed heavily as she slid into a chair. Oliver took the one opposite and Melissa gave him a weak smile before opening one of the books she pulled out of her bag at random.

"Let's not talk about any of what just happened or my situation anymore... for once I want to talk about Quidditch. When is your next game?" she said, perching her head onto her hands.

Oliver's eyes evidentially lit up at the mention of his favourite word. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"5th of March."

"Oh. That is my birthday."

"As I am aware. I will win the game for you. That will be your present." He sent her a wink. Melissa rolled her eyes.

"Okay, sure thing, Wood."

"Admit it, Carter. This whole Quidditch thing is growing on you."

Melissa thought for a moment before answering. "Maybe a little. But I don't think I will ever reach your levels of obsession. Like I think you would marry a broomstick if you could."

Oliver laughed at that. He actually laughed. It was a rare sight to see the usually stoic and serious boy crack a smile or laugh at anything yet here he was in front of Melissa his eyes crinkling and smile widening as he let laughs escape him as a result of what she had said. It made her insides flutter with something that made her lips curve up into a smile and forget about all the chaos surrounding her at that moment. For all she knew at that moment was the growing attraction she felt towards the boy in front of her. Even though he was a Quidditch obsessed lunatic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii, it has been a while. This is a shorter chapter than normal, I'm just trying to get back into this story :)) Hopefully I should be updating a bit more frequently these next few weeks as I am still on winter break :) Hope you are all doing well and have a great start to 2020 🎉


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